


Reluctantly Forward

by jcause



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-01-22 19:19:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 36,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12488992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jcause/pseuds/jcause
Summary: Set immediately after the events of the Season Three finale, Regina will have to pull together with others to solve the mystery of Storybrooke’s deep freeze.  Will Emma’s involvement lead them to peace or a final showdown?  And what else might surface?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written before the ‘Frozen’ season started to air, this story used to exist on another fic sharing platform. I found myself wanting to re-explore and re-work it as I've been re-inspired by the series in season seven. It was originally inspired by what I saw as a missed opportunity with the deeper emotions that were never developed in Regina's story and the original version of Emma Swan that began to disappear around season four. Also what I saw as other missed opportunities within the overall show. I hope folks like my take on where season four could have gone.

'Retreat' is a word Regina Mills hates more than any other word in the dictionary. There are certainly times when, strategically speaking, circumstances call for removing one's self from a situation but, as a rule, Regina prefers to stand her ground and win well. 

This was not one of those times. 

Pain gripped her blackened heart as a family, that was not hers but might have been, was reunited. Marian was back and Robin, and his son, never looked happier. 

Emma's groveling about her part in setting the reunion in motion was an echo of white noise. What Regina said to Snow and Charming's insufferable, interfering, do-gooder, daughter she would never be able to recall. Regina was far too busy keeping anger, and therefore her dark magic, from bubbling to the surface. 

As the bell on the diner door echoed on her exit what Regina wanted to do was burn Granny's Diner to the ground. Instead, for her son's sake, she fought off the anger that wanted out and moved down the steps and into the night. She was finally redeemed in Henry's eyes and to lose that was worse than all the dark emotions that were swirling. He was the only anchor tethering her and without his belief, in her redemption, there would be little reason to live. So the diner would remain standing and she would learn from her vengeful past to move forward. 

Pulling her jacket tighter, Regina turned onto the sidewalk and kept going at as fast a clip as her heels would respectfully carry her. She was determined to maintain some dignity and be damned if she were to be seen leaving disgraced. When she reached the corner that faced the tower she thought she saw tiny flurries in the light of the giant clock. That was, of course, impossible as it was far from winter in Storybrooke. There must have been a dust-up of some kind causing the speckles.

The night air did seem colder than when she had entered the diner. Although, before her world shattered there could have been a blizzard and she wouldn't have cared. She had been happy and her heart had been warm and hopeful. Obviously, the chill was her emotions playing tricks. Perhaps it was a manifestation of the wall she felt going up around her again. 

Blaming the exhaustion of fighting off her anger and the emptiness of her heart for what she had seen and felt, Regina ignored it and turned right, heading in the direction of home. Since she had arrived with Robin and his son, Roland, there was no choice but to walk. There was no way she was catching a ride with them in the midst of their family reunion. She was an outsider, an outsider whose car was parked at home. 

She supposed she could have used magic to return but decided she needed the fresh air to calm herself. Had she zapped back, Regina worried that in that big empty house her temper would take over and the tiny part of her mind that allowed her mother's teachings to inform her actions before would start to take over again. 

The moment she turned the corner off Main Street, Regina heard the unmistakable voice of Emma Swan calling after her. No good would come from the two of them facing off right now. Regina couldn't trust herself to stay in check. So she picked up her speed, turning down a side alley and back up towards the park. Maybe going the long way back to the house would mean she could avoid a confrontation with the meddling blonde. 

The wind picked up as Regina ran and she thought she could hear her mother, Cora, laughing at her. What was she thinking? Believing in some fairies version of soul mates and happily ever after was foolish. How had she allowed herself to fall prey to hope? Why had she let herself be vulnerable? 

"Love is weakness." Her mother's words echoed loudly in her head and she felt another wave of anger and darkness start to swell. Quickly pushing them away they were replaced by tears.

\---

Turning onto the deserted side street, Regina noticed a few lamps were out. As she slowed back down to a walk, certain she had lost Emma, Regina made a mental note to have someone from the town's maintenance department replace the burnouts. Life might not have been perfect in Storybrooke but there was no point in having it lose its upstanding appearances just because she was having a terrible day. Fate was something it seemed she couldn’t control, but safety in their little town was in her jurisdiction. 

Being guided along by the moonlight and what lamps did work, Regina reached another street and took a left. A tree-lined sidewalk along the town park greeted her, as did local businesses that were locked up tight. Many of the owners she had seen at Granny’s Diner during the celebration for baby Charming. 

The park seemed a more serene side to walk on even if it was darker than the previous block so Regina crossed and headed along that side taking in the peace and quiet. Opening her palm Regina conjured a ball of light to aid her along the way. She was shocked when it whirled white instead of the usual darker, purple. It brought the tiniest of tear to her eye but before she let her emotions wash over her again a rustling in the brush that lined the sidewalk, caught Regina's attention. "Show yourself," she demanded as she raised her hand, preparing for a showdown. 

A figure appeared, standing behind a gathering of small trees and bushes. "I'm sorry your Majesty. I didn't mean to startle you."

Raising the ball of light into the air until it illuminated the entire street Regina saw a young, beautiful, woman with dark hair, striking features, wearing heavy clothing under battle gear, a sword, and a fierce determination. "Do we know one another?"

"We were never introduced but I am among Robin Hood's band?" 

"A woman, among his men?" Regina questioned rather strongly. Suspicion would always be in her nature no matter how hard she tried to evolve. 

The woman, obviously sensing the concern, explained. "I proved myself a worthy ally and was allowed to join his ranks."

"Bandits aren't known for inclusion. What was it you did to prove yourself worthy?"

"Rescued his son Roland from Peter Pan."

Regina nodded and dissipated the ball of light as memories of her own run-in with Rumple's father washed over her. How far they had come since their time in Neverland.

"Mulan." The woman introduced herself with a shy nod.

"Regina, but you seem to know that already,” she said in response.

"Of course. It's been nice seeing Robin so happy. The two of you make a strong pair."

Regina grimaced, "Not any longer."

"Has something happened?" The woman asked concern on her face and her hand instantly on the blade at her hip. 

"His wife returned."

Surprise came across the younger woman's face but her hand remained on her blade. "His wife is dead."

"No, she is not." Regina offered honestly and more emotionally than she would have preferred. 

The strong, dark-haired, beauty stepped from behind the trees. Her body relaxing, her hand back at her side, and her acceptance of the new information clear; perhaps from the heartbreak in Regina's tone. "I see. I'm sorry."

"You have no need to be sorry."

"I do. As I said, you seemed happy with one another."

Regina needed the conversation to change directions. "I never saw you among his group. I would have remembered a woman bandit."

"I stay mostly to myself. I saw you many times though; both while keeping watch on the camp back home and while here in Storybrooke. At least until the witch made her move."

"That doesn't explain why I didn't take notice of you."

"To be frank, your mother was a brutal, ruthless, adversary and I didn't wish to risk making your acquaintance and facing equal difficulties. So I kept my distance."

The mention of Cora, combined with the battle gear the woman still wore over Storybrooke clothing, finally snapped the pieces of the puzzle into place. "Now I know who you are. You fought with Snow and Swan against my mother."

"I did."

"From the story, I heard told, you fought very well."

"I am skilled with a sword." The answer was direct and purely factual without an ounce of pride in the woman’s tone.

"Not usually something a woman from our land, or this one, is taught."

"Circumstances being what they were where I come from, it was the only way to keep my family safe."

"I admire your sense of honor."

"I would be nothing without it."

"I find it hard to believe that's true." Regina meant what she said. The young woman was a rare find. Most women where they came from accepted their lot in life and didn’t step outside it. There was much more than honor in Mulan’s DNA. "Why did I discover you here in the park?"

"I find camping amongst the trees more to my liking."

"Shouldn't you have been at the party?"

"I am not sure Snow White realizes I am in Storybrooke. I had the rather unfortunate experience of being turned into a flying monkey soon after arriving." 

"I see."

"And although I am pleased to be myself again, I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you. Your compassion is appreciated."

"Family is important." 

"My sister and I didn't know one another."

"It's still important and you still suffered a loss whether you know that or not." Looking Regina over Mulan stopped speaking even though more words seemed to be hanging on the younger woman's tongue. 

It read as compassion and it was appreciated. Dwelling in more mistakes her mother had made caused Regina misery and she was miserable enough at the moment without adding Cora's sins to the mix. "It sounds as if you know as much about that as I do." 

"I have had my share." The younger woman said with a far off look about her. As quickly as the melancholy appeared it was gone. "We are from very different worlds and yet isn't it curious how certain things are so universal."

"It is quite curious..." Before Regina could finish her thought a powerful blast of cold air started to knock her off her feet and had it not been for the reflexes of the woman before her she would have been on the ground. Her breath hitched from the speed and temperature of the air as it whipped around and then in the blink of an eye they were pounded with ice and snow. 

It was instinct, pure and simple, as Regina wrapped her hand around the arm that was holding her upright and zapped them away.


	2. Chapter 2

The weather had been unseasonably cool but pleasant and then, with no warning, the sharp pain of ice and snow striking her was followed by a complete loss of control. Instinct had kicked in and with it MAGIC. Everything had spun and in a blink of an eye, they were safe from the elements. The second Regina's feet were on the solid ground the warmth of her house enveloped her like a warm blanket. There was always something comforting about her home and it’s perfectly styled, painstakingly picked out, interior design, but never more than when she was nearly turned into a human Popsicle. 

As steady as Regina was, it seemed things were unsurprising, spinning for the woman with the sword, who was currently grabbing at the wall next to her to stay upright. Considering the warrior's likely upbringing this was her first experience traveling by teleport. A closer look at Mulan confirmed Regina's theory, that she wasn't used to the sensation, as the familiar blend of shock and nausea was glued to the younger woman's face.

"What was that?" Mulan managed to ask, as her head lifted some to meet Regina’s eyes. 

"An escape."

"Which I'm grateful for but I meant the weather."

"Whatever is going on it's not of this world." Regina offered as she moved quickly into the living room. 

The young woman followed until she wobbled on her feet, managing to grab a seat before she fell down. "How do you know?" 

Looking out the large picture window and into the backyard Regina could see nothing; not the lights she always left on, not her lawn, or her prized apple tree. There was only a fast-moving swirling of white. 

Regina had experienced her share of blizzards during her years in Storybrooke. When Henry was little there was an especially bad storm that had them stuck in the house for four days. Her son was still young enough to be happy about everything so they had embraced it. The days were spent in the kitchen baking together. They made blanket forts. There had been laughter and the playing of board games but storms like that one had been expected. This was not the case. Regina needed to get to the bottom of what was going on. "It is the wrong time of year." 

While sitting in the chair, the color was returning to Mulan's face. "I'm not familiar with, what I assume, is snow."

Regina reached into her pocket for her phone and began to dial. "More than that. In this world, they call it a blizzard and we are months away from such a drastic shift in the weather. This is magic. Excuse me a moment."

On the second ring, the call picked up. "Regina, I'm glad you called. Look, what happened, it was a mistake," the always optimistic Prince said before she cut him off.

"Charming, I don't need to chat about how exquisitely your daughter just torpedoed my life. I want to know if Henry is okay." 

"He's chatting with Red and Hook. Do you want to speak to him?"

Relief washed over her. "No, I'm just glad he's alright." 

"Why wouldn't he be," the usually clueless Prince had picked up on her tone as worry sprinkled over his words. 

Regina glanced out the picture window again to the back of her yard and still couldn't see in the whiteout conditions. "What is happening outside where you are?" This should be fun, she thought. 

She could hear Charming moving thru the diner and then the dinging of that forsaken bell. "Holy..."

"Exactly," Regina said loudly, in order to be heard over the wind whipping at the other end of the line.

"Where are you?" Charming shouted as she heard the bell again and assumed he slammed the door. If Regina didn't know any better she would have sworn he was concerned for her wellbeing. 

"At my house. I managed to magic myself back as it struck."

"Is Emma with you?"

"She's not," Regina couldn't help but be glad for that fact and yet there was another emotion that was threatening to push its way forward but the blonde didn't deserve Regina's concern so she forced it away. "And wherever she is, she is still safer than if she were here with me."

"She went after you to talk."

"She never found me." Regina offered honestly as she glanced in the direction of the warrior. 

"I've got to find her. There is no way she will find shelter in whatever this is.” Parental worry, it was a tone Regina knew well. 

Hearing the bell of the diner ring again Regina shouted into the phone. "Charming, don't be a fool. If it is as bad out there as it is here, you won't make it down the steps. Emma has magic and I can't imagine her not using it to get somewhere safe."

The bell rang again and the door slammed loud enough to hear it over the phone. "Perhaps."

"Emma might be irresponsible but her survival instincts are strong. Besides someone needs to look after Henry while I try to figure this out."

"Right," Charming agreed. "Whatever this is, magic is involved. It's too abrupt."

"Precisely. Try to reach Rumple. I'll work at my end to identify whatever this is."

"With Belle back in his life, Rumple seems happy for once. I don't imagine it's him."

"I concur but he might know who has such magic and if they're a threat. If I had to guess I would say Hook and your darling daughter brought back more than just Robin's true love. Ask the one-handed Casanova what else they fiddled with back there and I'll be in touch."

Hanging up the call, Regina was confident, that at the very least, Charming would keep Henry safe. 

The carafe on the side table was calling her name. So, after placing her phone back into her jacket pocket, she crossed to it and poured herself a small glass of the brown liquor inside. It swirled some in the glass as she lifted it. "I’m being a terrible hostess. Would you like one?"

"I don't really drink. I find it dulls my senses."

"While tricking your body into thinking it's warming your insides," Regina explained as she put her glass down and then poured one for Mulan. Grabbing both, she moved over and handed one to her guest.

Mulan stood, took what was offered with a nod, and began to sniff the offering.

"It's not poison if that's what you fear." Regina took a slow, deliberate, drink in front of her guest and then moved in the direction of the fireplace. Placing her glass on the mantel, she then threw three logs into the fireplace, and to save time, conjured a small fireball and gently placed it under the wood. 

After a moment the logs began to smolder and crackle. Satisfied, Regina extinguished her hand and reached again for the glass. Taking another sip of the liquor, it ran slowly down her throat warming the path as it went. "Drink up."

The warrior glanced at the glass, shrugged, and downed the entire offering. It took only a split second for her to cough and shake from the strength of the booze. 

Regina couldn't stop a short laugh and a wicked smile. "It's better sipped."

The younger woman continued to do a tiny dance where she stood and then moved to take a seat near the fireplace. "Now you tell me. So you really don't know what that is outside?"

"Other than magic, no."

"Is there a way to track it?"

Regina was impressed at Mulan’s instinct. "Perhaps." 

"We should try."

"Not an easy task even for the most powerful."

"We can't just stand by and do nothing,” the determination in the younger woman’s tone was very clear.

"In fact, we could."

"But you won't. Your son is too important to you to risk his life."

Regina studied the woman carefully. "They filled in the blanks for you when you fought by their side?"

"Emma and Snow filled us in, yes."

"Us?"

"Aurora was also among our group."

Another tiny laugh escaped Regina as she imagined the cowardly princess she dealt with having to fight alongside such battle ready allies. She vaguely remembered mention of her being involved. "I suppose she wasn't much help in the heat of battle against my mother."

Mulan suddenly grew very interested in the empty glass she was still holding. "She has a lot of heart."

Regina let the look go and continued on. "You all succeeded in stopping Cora so, for that, I applaud you."

"Why the issue with Emma?" The question was filled with confusion. "It seems the two of you are again at odds with one another." 

"You sound surprised by that observation." 

"Robin's men like to gossip and I had been led to believe you and Emma had made peace."

Regina took another sip of her drink. "Peace is a very strong word. More like an understanding that seems to have been complicated by recent events."

Mulan nodded. "The return of Robin's wife."

Regina noted it wasn't a question. "How did you...?"

"You implied it during that conversation."

"Right. I did, didn't I?"

"Having fought alongside Emma, I can't imagine her actions were meant to cause harm especially if you indeed moved past your previous hostilities."

"The problem with Snow White and her brood are they don't consider that their actions have consequences. One does not travel through a time vortex and interfere with anything. The repercussions are too far-reaching."

"Like the weather?"

"Like the weather."

Placing the empty glass on the side table, Mulan sat back in her chair. "So you think this vortex thing, that Emma was involved with, is the cause of what's happening outside?"

"It's possible she and Hook did or said something that set this in motion."

"I heard Hook was attempting to make good of himself," Mulan offered with a roll of her eyes that Regina appreciated.

"And I hear suspicion in your tone," Regina interjected.

"Hook is the type to look out for Hook and only Hook."

Regina lifted her glass in a silent toast. "There we agree." Taking a final sip, she then placed the empty glass back on the mantel. "Whatever this is, or however it got here, what's happening outside is definitely magic. The question is what kind and who used it."

“So we have a quest.”

Regina smiled despite herself. Mulan’s enthusiasm reminded Regina of Henry and his secret adventures. She hadn’t always been very supportive of them but looking back she couldn’t be more proud of him for following his instincts. Now it seemed it was Regina’s turn to have an adventure. “Indeed. I suppose we do.”


	3. Chapter 3

The two women spent no more time chatting. The fireplace was extinguished and the glasses left in the sink. For what needed to be done they had to travel to the crypt, as that was where Regina had her books safely tucked away from prying eyes. The only way to get there was by magic so Regina offered some advice to the younger woman, grabbed hold of her arm, and sent them on their way. 

The journey proved as unpleasant for Mulan as the first trip had. 

“Sit,” Regina instructed the moment they appeared in the dank crypt and the warrior’s legs began to wobble. Mulan barely managed a one-word response before doing as she was told and sitting in a very old, stone chair while Regina began her hunt for what they were looking for.

The crypt was a treasure trove of resources. Ancient magics, from every recorded land, from her mother's secret collection, which had been blended with newer catalogs of magics Regina had grown fond of during her quest for revenge. The only other person she knew of with more knowledge at their disposal was Rumple but with him off doing god knows what with Belle it was up to Regina and, she supposed, her newfound warrior to hunt for answers. If they were among the pages of the books it would take time to pinpoint, as Regina didn’t know every page of every volume and what they were looking for was unique. 

Elemental magic was rare and extremely powerful. It was the reason it took blending Regina's honed power and Emma's untapped magic to blackout the moon during their time in Neverland. Even at the height of her dark magic, Regina couldn't have handled that task alone, as Mother Nature wasn't easily manipulated because if she were the balance of the universe would tip in dangerous ways. Creating a fail-safe diamond was a walk in the park compared to what they were dealing with and if this blizzard was being cast by one person they were facing something that made Zelena seem like child’s play. 

Pulling books from trunks and shelves, stacks began to form. Certain volumes that she knew very well were cast aside as Regina could recite spells from those from memory. She made sure to grab the volumes from which she learned basic elemental magic theory and hoped something related to larger weather manipulation might emerge from the pages of books she never finished studying after exacting her revenge. 

Regina even went to retrieve her most powerful possession of all, which held nothing but the darkest of magic. She stared at the lid for a long moment before brushing her hand against the lock to release it. The very act of lifting the book out of its box caused her hands, arms, and eventually entire body to tingle with power. The memories it started to evoke made her breathing slow down but her heart race. Panic gripped Regina and she dropped the book with a thud back into its box, slammed the lid, and relocked it with a quick swipe of her hand. 

The noise startled Mulan who jumped to her feet. “Can I be of some help?”

“No. I’ve got it. Sit and catch your breath.” 

Regina began to calm when a horrible sense of shame washed over her. All the horror she had brought down on the citizens of the Enchanted Forest because of such misplaced anger. The death of her first love and her mother’s calculated manipulation had dropped her right into Rumple’s plan to set his own quest in motion. That very book had helped create the tipping point, which had brought her to this very moment in time, once again alone. There was no way she could open the pages of that volume and expect to keep her progress of denying dark magic intact. The book would remain where it was no matter the potential answers it held within its pages. There would just have to be another way.

Other books were instead collected so that by the time the final book was placed on a small table the color had fully returned to Mulan's face and they were ready to begin. Since the warrior wasn't versed in any magic languages Regina gave her a pile of books in English and Olde English and a list of words for her to look for in them. If she found any of the words she was to show the book to Regina immediately. The rest of the volumes were left to Regina to decipher, as there was little chance Mulan could be of any help.

In silence, a warrior and a queen looked for answers. Mulan carefully running her eyes along the pages while Regina waved her hands over each book in a more efficient and magical search. After getting past five volumes Regina started to feel the familiar prickle of power that she had grown to enjoy more than anything else. It was a dangerous line to be walking but she kept reminding herself this magic wasn’t the dark power she had locked away. The tiny pull was something she could embrace. This was safe like what she had tried to teach Emma Swan to harness. For her son, for herself, and, if she allowed herself to admit it, for the town she had grown to appreciate, she couldn’t let her issues with power cloud the need for a remedy to what was going on.

"Any luck?" Mulan asked as she placed her second book onto the completed pile.

Taken out of her thoughts Regina looked up at the young woman. "No, so far, nothing. You are certain nothing has been missed in what you’re checking?"

"I'm certain. I was very careful to check each page twice for the words you highlighted."

"Disappointing."

"It's hard not to worry when you say it like that."

"These books represent some of the most powerful magic in all the worlds. For nothing to present yet means we are likely facing something or someone unrecorded and very powerful. So, yes, there is cause for concern." 

"If there ends up being nothing in any of these where else might we find answers?"

"Rumpelstiltskin might know something, which is why I have Charming looking for him. The only other place we could try is the town library. Although I can't imagine anything worth our time would be among that collection. So short of running into what or who is causing this we would be at a standstill."

"We should explore all the possible avenues.” 

Regina couldn’t help but notice it wasn’t a question but a very firm statement. "I suppose but we will never make it on foot. I will have to travel us to the library and then return here to finish checking the last batch of these books myself. 

"Why can't I return here with you?"

"Two more trips by such means would require you spending a night in the hospital. If we go, you will be stuck there until whatever is outside has stopped."

Mulan took a deep breath and steadied herself as if she were about to go into battle with sword raised high. "Let’s do it.”

"This many times is a lot, even for me. What you felt before will pale in comparison to how you will feel after this trip.”

"If it will help the town, I will manage," Mulan said standing from her chair. 

"Okay," Regina stood, walked around the table, and took Mulan's arm again with one hand. In the other hand, she held the book she had been checking but hadn’t finished scanning. The moment the two touched a strange, protective, feeling towards the young woman came over Regina. She imagined this was what compassion felt like. "Remember to breathe."

Mulan nodded, took in a deep breath, and in the time it took her to exhale they were in the very dark and very cold library.

Regina effortlessly waved the hand that she had been holding Mulan with and a ball of light, like the one Regina had used to find her way home, appeared and illuminated the inside of the Clocktower library. Unfortunately, with nothing to help her stand, Mulan crashed to the floor and onto her knees, the effects of another transport obvious. 

It had been a careless misstep to let go of the warrior, as the lack of balance was likely the least of the side effects. "Slow breaths. Concentrate on where your limbs are touching solid ground. The sickness will disappear as you relax."

Mulan nodded very slowly but said nothing as she lowered her head to the ground along with the rest of her body and then curled up like an infant sleeping.

Many years ago, Regina had been equally unaccustomed to transport magic so she knew from experience it was best to give Mulan some space. Coaching her through it too hard would cause her to fixate and make it worse. Rumple on many occasions had tormented Regina with tough love as he taught her those skills. This wasn’t a lesson, it was a mission and Mulan deserved the time to recover.

The sound in the library was an echo of the wind and snow assaulting the structure. It would be a miracle if the power in town was still working but it was worth checking out. Using a ball of light to find her way to the far wall, Regina then flicked the light switch. As luck would have it the power was still on so she extinguished her magic and took in the dusty, old, library. Unless Rumple had hidden some of his books here, Regina wasn't very confident they would find answers among the shelves but as there weren't many books left in the crypt, at least one's Mulan could help read, it wasn't a terrible plan. 

Mulan looked up from where she was laying on the ground. "Could you help me up?"

“There is no hurry.”

“I’m feeling better.”

Once again the warrior’s strength presented itself and Regina was impressed. Most would have been on that floor for well over an hour. Placing the book, she had transported with her onto a table, Regina moved to the young woman and offered her a hand. "Go slow."

Doing as she had been told Mulan rose to her feet with Regina's help, "Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The warrior smiled. “Where should I begin?"

"Take your time. Sit a moment. I shall see if there are any magical resources among this collection." Just as Regina was about to cast a spell to identify any books of magical origin in the room there was a loud, hysterical banging on the door to the library. 

Without hesitation, Mulan moved towards the sound before Regina could get her to consider all the possible reasons for the banging, like perhaps danger. In one fluid motion, Mulan grabbed the handle and whipped the door open. A blast of ice-cold wind and snow billowed into the room, the noise from outside entering the room along with the blizzard conditions. The weather wasn’t the only thing that entered the library though, as did a stumbling figure. Mulan tried to catch the person but their momentum and the velocity of the gusts were too much to counteract and instead they both fell hard to the floor with a loud crash; the warrior’s sword clanging on the ground echoing over the nearly deafening wind.

Regina whipped her hand in the air and her magic began instantly fighting a violent tug of war against the wind and snow. The door tried to obey but the blizzard had other ideas. Fighting against the elements, as they struck her body hard, Regina gave more to her efforts, moving slowly, step by step, towards the icy assault. Finally, after much magic had been expelled, the door slammed shut. Standing a short distance from the exit, Regina could hear the wind striking the building harder, like a child having a temper tantrum for having not gotten what it wanted. Regina, whose hands and arms were tingling from the magic use and whose heart was racing, struggled to catch her breath. The day was getting worse.

Eventually calmed down, Regina turned her attention to the crumbled pile of humanity on the ground. Mulan was untangling herself and as she did the blonde hair of the other figure, along with a familiar red leather jacket, came into view. The source of the banging was now unmistakable and had come from the one person Regina didn’t want to have to deal with right now. She was exhausted enough without adding Emma Swan to the equation.

Mulan turned Emma over and then abruptly pulled her into her arms and started to frantically pull the jacket away from her body. Her hands began to rub the length of Emma’s arms under the sweater she wore. It was immediately clear that the blonde had taken a beating. Her face was pale white and her lips nearly blue. 

Regina sprung into action. Her hands rose into the air. Light and heat began to radiate through them causing a glowing aura to appear. Slapping both of her hands hard against the bare, cold, pale skin of Emma's cheeks, Regina willed life force energy to flow through her and into the unconscious, frozen, blonde. "Damn it, Swan you have magic."

Regina supposed trying to save Emma Swan’s life was what her therapist, Doctor Hopper, would call progress.


	4. Chapter 4

Reluctantly Forward 4

As Regina sat on her knees in silence, her hands providing the medical aid Emma desperately needed, her mind wandered over how far they had come. There had been a time when Regina would have celebrated Emma's death but, even after everything that had happened earlier in the evening, that time was long past. She had accepted Emma as Henry's other mother and although she would never admit it, she respected Emma a great deal. The beautiful blonde was headstrong, resourceful, and even with the complicated way she had grown up, surprisingly loyal to almost a fault. Perhaps had Regina been born with some of Emma's inner strength she wouldn't have fallen into Rumple's grand scheme so many years ago or currently find herself upset over losing a chance with a man after only a few short weeks spending time with him.

Glancing down at Emma, anxiety over her wellbeing started to dissipate as the color returned to her face and hands. The crisis had been averted. Regina noted that warmth was starting to be shared instead of it all being directed only towards the blonde and a magical vibration was starting to form where their skin touched. It had been a close call but they seemed out of the woods. 

The first sign that Emma was waking up was a small flutter of her eyes, followed by a small movement in her hand, and then panic as the blonde attempted to pull away from Mulan's grasp. The younger woman tried to keep her still but it was Regina who eased Emma's nerves with just the tiniest of soothing magic that she added to the heat she was already providing. 

"What happened?" Emma mumbled and then took a slow deep breath releasing the tension she had at first displayed. Opening her eyes the rest of the way, she struggled to sit up, obviously in pain, but Regina's hands on her cheeks stopped her. 

"Lay still," Regina demanded, softly.

Eyes that were not quite blue but not quite hazel bore into Regina’s, "Where I am? What happened?"

Regina knew what she should have said but something about the proximity to Emma and the events earlier in the evening fueled the sarcastic quip that escaped her lips. "You decided the best place to experience a blizzard was in it."

The look Emma gave was fast but the reply, although labored, was faster. "Says the woman who is sporting a pencil skirt in a snowstorm." 

The retort was a sure sign Emma was better. Regina removed her hands from the blonde's face and stood. "If it wasn't for me you would have frozen to death."

Mulan leaned forward some so she could carefully prop Emma up enough to take in the room. "Your skin was ice and you stopped breathing. Had it not been for Regina, you would have died."

A reaction to the familiar crossed Emma's tired face as she turned her head slowly to the side. “Mulan?"

"Hello, Emma."

"It's been a while."

"It has."

"Can we get past the pleasantries, please?" Regina interrupted. "There is a blizzard outside that shouldn't be there and I would like to get to the bottom of it before the whole town freezes to death."

Emma turned back to Regina, surprised. "This wasn't you?"

"No!" Regina shouted over the pounding storm outside. Frustrated, Regina walked to the table where she had left the book she had brought with her. Of course, Emma would think this was her doing. Of all the people to bang on the door needing shelter, it had to be her. Perhaps today was karma wanting payment for past atrocities.

Emma interrupted Regina’s thoughts. "I just thought maybe with the whole..."

Picking up and slamming the book onto the table with a bang. Regina whipped back towards the blonde unable to keep her exasperation from showing. "It wasn't me."

Mulan eyed the other women curiously. "She and I were together by the park when it blew in. Regina took us to safety."

Emma attempted to stand. "Mulan, can you help me to my feet?"

Mulan obliged.

"It's quite a storm," Emma said as she slowly flexed her hands a few times. They were very bruised, probably from the number she did on them while banging on the door, but the fact she could move her fingers was a good sign. Based on her condition when she arrived severe frostbite could have been a real worry.

"And no thanks to your magic you survived it." Regina offered flippantly. Emma, at the very least, had enough skills to get out of the blistering snow but instead froze. It seemed the lessons Regina had been giving her were a waste. 

"It's not every day a giant blast of attic cold slams into me. I panicked. Okay?"

"No, it's not okay. What if Henry had been with you?"

"If Henry had been with me I wouldn't have panicked but it seems while chasing after you, I did." Emma blurted out honestly as she inched her way to a chair with Mulan's help. 

"What? Did guilt cloud your mind?" Regina challenged. 

"I saved a woman's life. I can't feel guilty about that." 

"And yet?"

"What are we up against?" Emma rather dramatically pointed in the direction of outside putting an end to the discussion of Marion's return. 

"I had hoped you could enlighten us since you and your new boyfriend likely brought back all sorts of fun things."

"You can't place this on me."

"Oh, I can and I will, until such time that another explanation presents itself."

Emma grabbed the table next to her for balance. "You really are..."

"What?" Regina said taking determined steps in Emma's direction. "Do tell me, Ms. Swan, what am?"

"Unforgiving."

"Compared to my previous efforts against your mother over her betrayal I would say I'm evolving well. If I were unforgiving, you would be dead." The words spilled out of Regina, her heart racing, and then a horrible sense of fear and something else followed, causing Regina to take a few slow steps back.

The truth smacked Emma squarely across the face and took the fight out of her as well. "Mulan, can I have my jacket please?"

"Sure," Mulan replied. The warrior looked like she wanted to be anywhere but trapped in the library. 

Regina knew the feeling. 

"Thanks." Taking the jacket, Emma reached into her pocket. "Damn, I must have dropped my phone."

"Your parents are looking after Henry while keeping everyone at the party inside the diner."

"Thanks for checking in with them."

A tiny bit of what might be considered kindness caused Regina to reach into her own jacket, pull out her phone, and drop it on the table next to Emma. Regina then backed away a good distance. "Call your father. He was worried."

"Thank you," Emma said while looking at Regina curiously. She then made the call.

"You're welcome," Regina spoke the words to the air although Mulan seemed to notice and smiled at her weakly. There was something on the younger woman’s mind but she remained silent. 

As Emma made the call, Mulan moved to Regina's side. "You saved her life."

Regina only nodded.

"People have underestimated your capacity for compassion."

Regina nodded again. Not comfortable with the topic at hand she turned the conversation to Mulan. "Your actions were quick but might have been careless had the banging been something dangerous."

"I know what a desperate need for help sounds like. I had to in order to survive."

"I'm sorry, this entire day has been a mess."

"No worries. So, does the plan here remain the same?"

Regina nodded. "Yes, we will search out any books of magic origins.”

"And what of Emma?"

"We should watch her closely in the event she has suffered less obvious damage. She might still need medical attention."

Emma slowly approached and handed the phone back to Regina. "My father told me to thank you."

"I did it for Henry."

Emma avoided a sarcastic retort but her eyes filled in the blanks. "What's the plan?"

Mulan took the lead. "We are trying to see if there are any resources that might pinpoint what is causing the storm."

"Did you check your books?"

Regina managed only a small eye roll. "Most of them, but we had run out of volumes Mulan could assist with. We thought we would rule out the possibility of Rumple hiding some of his more powerful books here."

"In Belle's library?” Emma asked. “The whole town comes here."

Mulan interjected. "Making it a place no one would think to look for something of value." 

Emma nodded at the logic. "So the books?"

"Yes." Regina raised her hand into the air, concentrated on highlighting any books with magic origins or properties, and waved her hand in a specific sweeping motion. 

A surprisingly large number of books glowed yellow, fourteen in all. Mulan and Regina collected the glowing volumes and brought them to the large table on the far side of the room while Emma took a seat.

The books were again divided based on the source language, which gave Regina most of the work. After a while, the search came up empty, even in the volume Regina had brought with her.

"So these books are a dead end." Emma said closing her last one. 

"Seems they are." Regina responded doing the same. 

"What else do we know about what is happening out there?" Mulan asked and then turned to Emma. "What do you remember about when the storm arrived?"

Emma shrugged. "I went after Regina to talk and you must have used magic to get away cause I lost you. So I kept walking in the direction of your house thinking I would catch you there. That was when I started to notice the temperature dropping."

Regina took a couple of the discarded books and started to place them back on the shelves where they had found them. She was smirking to herself at Emma’s assumption magic had been used to escape the former bounty hunter. "The same happened near the park."

"So the scope is quite wide." Mulan deduced. 

Regina nodded. "We can assume it's at least all of Storybrooke."

Emma nodded as well. "Next thing I know I'm getting pelted with ice, snow, and that bitter, cold wind. I ran back in the direction I came from but after a short while, the visibility was zero. I wasn't sure where I was and I just kept getting colder and colder. All I wanted to do was sleep."

A chill ran through Regina that she didn't allow herself to dwell on.

As Mulan began to assist in returning the books to the shelves, she turned back. "Had you done so, death would have soon followed."

"Which is why I kept looking for shelter," Emma replied with a surprising bit of humor in her tone.

"How did you reach here?" Mulan asked curiously. 

"Sheer luck? I was tracing a path along the buildings, banging on doors and windows hoping that someone was around to let me in. When I reached the clock tower I had hoped the roof on the porch would protect me some from the elements. That's when I noticed the tiniest of light suddenly coming from the windows. So I followed the wood around with my hands until I felt the doorknob. It was locked so a banged as hard as I could."

"So after all that, we know nothing new..." Regina said as she retrieved three more volumes. 

"Listen." Mulan interrupted.

"I don't hear anything,” Emma said.

"My point. The wind has stopped." Mulan shoved the final book in her hand back where it came from and ran to the door, opening it. "It's all stopped."

Regina deserted the stack in her hand, placing them down on an open shelf, and made her way to the door and looked out. Sure enough, the whiteout conditions had stopped. The street lamps were illuminating about three feet of the cold powder which was piled on top of roads, cars, mailboxes, everything. Storybrooke was beautifully covered in dense ice and snow. Memories of playing with a young Henry in past blizzards filled Regina’s heart. 

"What now?" Mulan asked.

Emma stood from the chair slowly and made her way to the door. "We head to Granny's and make sure everyone is alright."

Regina didn't respond but instead walked out of the library and trudged off towards the diner using her magic to plow a path since her weather inappropriate outfit, that Emma had pointed out, would have made the walk nearly impossible. 

Arriving there before the others, Regina prepared for what was inside and then opened the door where that infuriating bell greeted her.


	5. Chapter 5

The moment the door opened all eyes were on Regina Mills and she didn't much care for it. Lifting her head higher, Regina tried to ignore the complicated energies in the room and stick to the task at hand. She noticed Snow White moving towards her and cringed.

"Regina," Snow said, as she moved with the baby in her arms towards the door. "Are you alright?"

"I've been better," Regina said, which got a sad, small nod from her former enemy. "Good news is the blizzard has stopped. I would suggest everyone find somewhere close by to sleep tonight. The roads are impassable unless you live between here and the library."

"Just great," Leroy groused from across the room as he moved to grab a seat next to Grannie at a table. "You got any vacancies?"

Grannie rolled her eyes. "Yes, Leroy." The older woman then got up and headed in the direction of the bed and breakfast to prepare for an influx of overnight guests.

"Where is Emma?" Snow asked, her concern very evident. 

Before Regina could answer the bell on the door to the diner rang and Emma entered, being helped along by Mulan. 

David bolted towards his daughter to assist. "Are you okay? You don't look okay?"

"I'm fine." The blonde said with a weak smile. "Thanks to Regina."

"What did she do?" Hook bellowed as he put his drink down and moved in Regina's direction. His body language, far from friendly, seemed to indicate he was looking for a fight. 

"I saved her life." Regina offered pointedly, not budging from where she stood, her eyes locked on the advancing pirate.

Hook kept on his approach as Mulan started to move to intervene. 

"She did. So calm down." Emma exclaimed in an effort to call off the pirate's attack. 

Hook took a step back, Mulan stood down, and Regina saw Robin smile from his place next to his wife and son. She tried her best to ignore the family portrait. "Maybe the real question is what did you do while taking a detour through time?"

"Don't look here." Hook said defensively. "The only addition is sitting back there with her family." The words he didn’t say might as well have been shouted for as subtle as his recrimination of her was as he pointed towards Marian.

Instead of it upsetting her, Regina imagined the many ways she could end his life. Before her ideas could get especially creative, the kitchen door swung open and Red, followed by Henry, entered carrying trays of food.

"Here we go," Henry announced and then noticed the new arrivals. "You're back!" 

The young man dropped his tray on the counter, came bolting around, and into Regina's arms. His eyes bounced between his two moms. "I was worried about you guys." 

"We're okay, kid," Emma said, from where she sat on a stool that her father had helped her onto.

"You both don't look okay," he replied as his eyes danced between both women. The boy, actually young man, had always been too observant for his own good and it seemed had noticed not only Emma's weakened state but also clued into Regina's mental state. 

"She's recovering well," Mulan said to the boy while her eyes suddenly became glued over Regina's shoulder. 

Following the warrior's glance, Regina saw Aurora standing just outside the swinging kitchen door with a tray in her hand. The princess looked elated. "Mulan, is that you?"

The warrior, on the other hand, looked sad. "Hello, Aurora."

"I can't believe it's you."

After putting the small tray down, Aurora followed Henry's path around the counter and towards the new arrivals. A pregnant princess captured Mulan in a giant hug and although the young woman returned the welcome, there was something in her eyes that Regina couldn't identify but thought looked a lot like heartbreak. Regina noticed a raised eyebrow from Red and a warm smile from Snow. Both reactions reinforced something was up.

Walking away from Regina and over to Emma, Henry gave his other mother a hug. "So what was that outside? It's not winter, yet."

Leroy put down his mug, which was likely not filled with hot chocolate considering the slight slurring when he spoke before. "Probably some kind of fluke storm. We keep reading about how this world is doomed."

"No," Red interjected. "Storms have a distinct smell but so does magic. That was magic."

"Could you trace the source?" Emma asked.

"With the wind as it was, not likely."

Henry looked at Emma curiously. "What do you think it is?"

"Don't know, kid. But your mom will figure it out." 

Regina didn’t want to appreciate Emma’s comment but did. "First, we all need a good night's sleep,” she said as started to leave. She had enough of this town for one night. Henry was safe and that was all Regina cared about.

David stepped into the center of the room. "Should we meet back here first thing and make a plan?"

"Maybe it's over," Hook offered.

"In this town? Something that big doesn't just happen and disappear," Emma reminded everyone. "It’ll return. Stuff like that always does."

"Exactly," Regina said as she opened the diner door. "Leave me to the hunt for who or what is doing this. The rest of you have a town to prepare for when it, inevitably, happens again. Good night."

"Mom?"

Regina turned. "Yes, Henry."

"Could I go with you?"

Regina looked up at Emma hoping the blonde would do one thing right tonight. 

There was the tiniest of nods from the blonde. "Hey, Henry, I think your mom needs some rest. Stick with me again tonight?"

Henry’s shoulder’s slumped from disappointment. "Okay.”

Regina couldn't stop herself from giving a small smile of thanks to Emma before she left. As the door began to close Regina thought she heard Henry say he was worried about her. It filled her heart and broke it at the same time. 

As Regina reached the street and considered by what means she wanted to go home, the bell to the diner rang yet again. Not turning, Regina began to walk along the path she had plowed with her magic. She couldn’t very well run, even with a path to the library available to her, but she also wasn’t going to have another chat with Emma Swan.

"Regina, may I have a moment," Mulan called out, as she moved to catch up.

Since it wasn't Emma, Regina stopped and turned. "Of course."

"I heard what was said in there but I would like to continue helping you. If you will let me."

She wasn't sure if it was the polite formality or the lost look in Mulan's eyes but Regina found she couldn't deny the young woman's request. "Having a warrior at my side seems the only sensible thing to do."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." 

Mulan turned to leave as Regina raised her hands above her head to transport back to the mansion and then stopped. "Mulan?"

The woman turned back as she got just past the archway to Grannie's patio, a patio that was buried under enough snow that it reached the warrior’s waist. 

"I can't have you dying of frostbite and staying with those people won’t give you the rest you need. They will be up all night talking each other to death. You will stay at the house with me until this situation resolves itself. There are plenty of empty rooms."

"Regina, that's not necessary."

"Perhaps not but it seems the most, what did you call it, compassionate thing to do." The warrior smiled as Regina began walking in the direction of home. “It’s not far.”

When they reached the library, Mulan spoke. "You should transport yourself. Just tell me where I'm going. There is no point in both of us walking through all this."

"I find it quite beautiful. Besides if we walk I can melt some of this ice and snow as we go. It will make the streets more passable for the rest of them if we are lucky enough to avoid another blast before morning."

Regina waved her hands, conjuring a fireball, and pushed the heat towards the snow. A path formed leading them back to the mansion. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

....

After retrieving Mulan some comfortable clothes to sleep in and showing her where she could change, Regina headed downstairs to make herself a cup of tea. 

As Regina turned on the kettle, a knock at her front door startled her. Who would be coming to the house at this hour? Putting down the teacup, she moved out of the kitchen, through the living room, and to the front door. Despite her suspicious nature, she opened the door without looking first. 

Standing on her front step was Emma Swan. "Wanted to see if I could manage it without the pressure of a blizzard. Not bad, huh? Transported and didn't end up landing myself between two pieces of wood or something. Although, man, I'm dizzy."

"Gold star and now goodnight, Ms. Swan," Regina said as she started to shut the door. 

Emma's hand reached up to stop it. "Are we back to that?" 

"It seems we are."

"Look, Regina, I never meant..."

"You never do and yet you have a gift for torpedoing my life. So you should keep your distance and go back and look after our son."

"My parents are with him. When I left he was rocking his uncle to sleep. I will never get used to that."

"Perhaps you should go join them so maybe someday you can."

"Can't we talk?"

"I'm not in the mood for chitchat." Regina tried to keep all her complicated emotions in check. "For once, just leave me alone."

"Okay, for now," Emma said as she released her hand from the door. "But we will talk."

Instead of shutting the door something compelled Regina to speak. "Why can't you leave well enough alone?"

"Cause we've become friends."

"You're overstating."

"You saved my life."

"I did that for Henry."

"I don't believe that and neither do you."

"Don't assume you know what I believe!" Regina's temper was building as was the need to lash out in less verbal and more magical ways. Anger was a powerful motivator of darkness. "Can't you just leave well enough alone? We have bigger things to worry about than your need to have me accept your apology."

"I'm not apologizing for bringing her back but I'm sorry if you were hurt in the process."

"Please just go." And with that Regina finished shutting the door in Emma Swan's face. 

Her hand resting there for a moment, Regina took a very deep breath and then started back towards the kitchen. It was then she caught sight of Mulan on the staircase, wearing a pair of Regina's sweatpants and a t-shirt. 

"I didn't mean to ease drop. I was trying not to interrupt."

"It's fine. Would you like some tea?"

"If it's not any trouble."

"No trouble. I will meet you in the other room.” 

The kettle began to whistle as Regina entered the kitchen. Pulling out another cup and teabag, Regina poured the hot water and headed back into the living room with the drinks. 

"The alliance you two have is a curious one," Mulan said from her place on the sofa. 

Taken aback Regina handed over the tea with eyebrows raised. 

"I'm sorry,” Mulan replied as she took the mug. “I tend to be very direct, which some, I understand, see as being discourteous. That wasn't my intention."

Taking a seat Regina was politely dismissive. "We have a complicated relationship."

"I suppose complicated is better than at each other's throats."

Regina lifted the cup to her lips, blew on the hot liquid, and then took a sip. "We've done that as well."

Mulan mirrored Regina's enjoyment of the tea and fell silent. 

Wanting to make sure the conversation remained dropped Regina turned things towards Mulan. "I noticed you greeted Aurora like someone who you would have preferred not to see. I thought you were friends?"

"We are," Mulan offered while concentrating on the cup. That was twice now that the mention of Aurora evoked heavy concentration on objects instead of answers. 

"And yet when you saw one another, friendship wasn't what I saw in that reunion."

"To use your word, it's complicated."

"Phillip?"

"What of him?" Mulan’s reaction screamed defensive.

"As I heard it told, you traveled with him as he searched for her. I imagine being by his side for so long would complicate a friendship with his wife."

Mulan sat frozen in place, the look on her face similar to other times throughout the evening when it looked like she wanted to speak but hadn't. 

The silence was thick in the room. Regina blew on her hot tea and then took another sip. 

"It's not Phillip," Mulan whispered. 

"Excuse me."

"It's not about Phillip."

The puzzle piece locked in place and Regina didn't need any more information but she suspected the young warrior needed to share so Regina waited.

"I'm not exactly sure when it happened but she means the world to me."

"And yet?"

"It can never be."

"Have you told her?" Regina asked. 

"Of course not."

"I find it hard to imagine you incapacitated."

Shame washed over the young woman.

"Someone as strong as you frozen by a confession?"

"The same way a queen is running from the person she feels she's meant to be with."

Regina placed the cup down on the table in front of her. "What does that mean?"

Confusion crossed Mulan's face. "Why so cross if the return of Robin's wife doesn't matter? I wouldn't think someone with your power would let anyone stand in her way."

"I don’t operate that way, any longer. I’m redeemed." As the word left Regina's lips she could taste the contempt she had for it.

"And scared?"

Spoken by anyone else, Regina would have banished them instantly but from Mulan, the question had an innocence the former Evil Queen appreciated. “I have my reasons." The words were as vague as they were honest.

"And I have my reasons for keeping my feelings secret."

"Fair," Regina acknowledged and then went back to drinking more tea.

"Do you love him?"

The question jolted Regina. "Excuse me?"

"Do you love him?

Regina tried to deflect. "Do you love her?"

The younger woman's posture changed. "Yes." The speed at which the warrior spoke her truth made Regina nervous and seemed to make Mulan bold. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You’re correct. I didn’t.”

The young woman looked at Regina with compassion. "If I were you, I might ask myself, why so mad at Emma Swan."

"Cause it's easier than being mad at myself and if you ever repeat that."

Mulan nodded. "The heart is complicated."

With a far-off look, Regina picked up the cup and finished her tea.


	6. Chapter 6

Memories ran through Regina's mind as she turned the pages of the books in front of her. Many years ago it had started with Rumple forcing her to learn page after page under his tutelage but as time went on she began to hungrily devour each word on her own as they fueled her quest for revenge. Regina had heard it said that music held the key to unlocking memory but so did the magic captured in the pages of her collection. Regina’s past was filled with anger and a powerful loneliness and the emotions were as vivid today as they were then. Although she was making quick time with the remaining volumes in no way was she enjoying the walk down memory lane. 

Nursing her morning cup of coffee, she was without Emma to frustrate or Mulan to ask questions. Instead, Regina was awash with the atrocities of her dark past. Almost every page represented a moment where she had destroyed a life or, in the most innocent of spells, where she cast something selfishly. Even something like a stuffed toy rabbit for a child wasn’t exactly a kindness when it was made to torment the child’s parent. 

Regina should have been asleep but when she found herself awake before daybreak she transported back to the crypt to finish the stack of books she hadn't checked. As she closed the last one there was still no sign of any answers. Glancing at the locked box, she fought the urge to see if the darkest book in her collection was what she was seeking. In her current state of mind, she would be playing with fire and there was no telling what kind of hold that volume might have over her.

Placing the other volumes back where they belonged, Regina tried to ignore her growing anger over Emma's thoughtless altering of the past. After all, it was the blonde who was obviously responsible for what they were facing. The white knight had saved a life but in doing so had caused a ripple in the fabric of time. Emma may have been smart enough to realize leaving Marion in the other timeline was a recipe for disaster but Regina's romantic path wasn't the only thing now at risk thanks to Marion’s rescue. The minutest altering had ramifications that far exceeded Robin and his son having their family reunited. 

Having been on a bloody rampage prior to the casting of the first curse Regina's recollection of those days was similar to an addict on a bender, very foggy. She had no memory of Marion being under her capture at the time. So who was to say if Marion had been executed? Perhaps she had escaped even without Emma's interference and if that had been the original outcome there was but one example of how the timeline was now disrupted. Or what if she was executed but somehow that execution started a chain of events that without it was now causing a different ripple through time? The return of Robin's wife could be at the heart of a future event that was currently taking shape, like for instance all of Storybrooke facing a magical blizzard. As Red pointed out magic was in play and Regina didn't believe in coincidences. No matter how much they denied it, Emma and Hook were responsible for what the town was facing whether it was because of the Savior's actions with Marion or something else that hitched onto their return home. The possibilities were endless and all recipes for disaster. This was all Emma's fault and Regina couldn't have been more disappointed. 

As the words formed in Regina’s mind the realization stopped her in her tracks. Disappointment over something Emma had done was far too intimate a reaction. Why was it that Henry’s other mother always managed to get under her skin so easily? Not wishing to answer her own question and having finished picking up the books, Regina wasn’t interested in sticking around to be tempted by the dark volume. It was time to go home and begin searching elsewhere.

The second she transported back to her bedroom she was hit with the smell of breakfast. She smiled at the thought the warrior had cooked and then immediately worried that based on the way Mulan had been living that the food would make Granny's diner seem five-star. Going downstairs and into the dining room, Regina was shocked to find Mulan having breakfast with Henry and Emma. Standing in the archway, Regina wasn't sure if she was more excited to see her son or more angry at the sight of the Savior.

"Morning," Henry said before he shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth. 

Setting down the coffee mug in her hand, Emma looked at Regina sheepishly. "The kid wanted to see you. He had a theory he thought you should hear."

"Not without coffee," Regina blurted out as she crossed in the direction of the kitchen immediately after throwing a look of disapproval to Mulan. 

Pouring the hot, dark, liquid into a mug, Regina took a long moment to compose herself before joining the others. "Go ahead Henry," Regina said as she re-entered the dining room and took a seat.

"Mom said that you weren't having luck with your books but you were still hoping to find clues."

"I just finished checking the rest of them. There was nothing describing anything that has the power to control the weather on such a grand scale."

"What if maybe there isn't a spell in those books cause this person comes from somewhere unexplored?" Henry asked.

"My collection comes from many lands."

Mulan looked up from her meal. "But maybe not all of them. I didn't, for instance, notice anything written in my native language."

"True," Regina said. 

Henry continued on. "This got me thinking about Peter Pan and the Wizard of Oz and I wondered, could the clues you need be rooted in an unfamiliar fairytale? So I looked online and found this." Henry handed over his iPad and pointed at the screen, "The Snow Queen."

"Who?" Regina said taking the tablet. 

"That's what I said," Emma interrupted. "But it's all there. The kid could be onto something."

"There are thousands of stories that people don't know. I remember after Snow and Mom returned I had to look up Mulan," the boy added. "Sorry."

Mulan smiled at him. "It's alright, Henry. It's the same reason the writings of my ancestors aren't among your mother's collection. My people are protective of their history and their magic."

"Exactly,” Emma interjected. “We could come across anyone, not just the most famous of fairytale characters. Where Tinkerbelle and Peter Pan I knew, Zelena wasn’t exactly someone I recall from Oz, at least not by that name." 

The memories of nearly losing Henry to the evil man-child and how a sister she never knew had tried to destroy everything sent a chill up Regina's spine. "Okay. So who is this Snow Queen?"

\---

After a breakdown of The Snow Queen’s story, courtesy of Henry's abridged information, Regina wasn't convinced but she also wasn't willing to completely dismiss her son's theory and neither were the other two women. So after the dining room was cleaned up and the dishes were washed it was back to Belle's library to see if they could locate a complete telling of the Snow Queen story or any other mention of her among that collection. 

Despite the large piles of snow covering the town, the weather was back to a seasonally appropriate crisp early fall day. Many were out shoveling sidewalks and helping their neighbors with driveways, and the digging out of cars while wearing light jackets and jeans. Some of the adults were laughing with one another and lots of neighborhood children were playing in the snow. It didn’t feel like a battle was coming and yet Regina was ready for one.

The children playing eventually included Emma and Henry as a snowball fight broke out half way to the library. It had been Henry who had made the first move. It had hit Emma square in the back and exploded, as snowballs did. Regina enjoyed her son's enthusiasm and the fact that Emma was the victim of the cold attack. Of course, the daughter of Snow White wasn't going to leave the strike unanswered and very quickly snowballs were flying everywhere and even Mulan had been pulled into their game. 

It wasn’t until they were within a couple blocks of the library the game escalated into an all-out snowball war. A look was exchanged between Henry and Emma which made it clear Regina was in for it. 

As two snowballs came flying at her, Regina barely avoided being pelted. Thanks to quick reflexes and fire magic, she was spared. Each packing of snow met its demise and evaporated as the two elements crashed together, the fire victorious. Henry and Emma weren’t deterred and Mulan took up arms as well. Giant snowballs in the hands of all three took flight. They were lucky Regina’s quick defense against the horseplay didn't set the entire block of storefronts ablaze.

"Aww, Mom, come on," Henry whined as the final of the three snowballs was zapped. 

The look back at the group was without words but still sent the message to leave her out of it. Regina then caught sight of Emma laying a hand on Henry's shoulder. She wasn't sure if it was an attempt to avoid a fight or an act of kindness but either way, it spared Regina from saying anything else that would make Henry more disappointed in her.

\----

Their knocking on the door didn't get an answer. It was clear Belle had yet to return. Emma removed two small metal bars from inside her jacket and made quick work of the lock, which must have clicked back into place when they had closed it the night before. Their son was immediately taken with Emma's skill set, which he was told would never be something he would be taught. The pouting might have been permanent had they not had a more important mission to focus on. 

As they got inside the group got to work. The combination of the antiquated card catalog Henry insisted on using and some magic made quick time of the hunt for the fairytale they were seeking. It was among volumes of tales Regina wasn’t familiar. Sitting between what looked to be a story of a group of mystery-solving mice and a tale of a far, far away land, that after a quick glance Regina hoped never to experience visitors from, was the book they sought.

The copy of the Snow Queen was beautifully bound in royal blue with silver lettering and Henry was assigned to search the pages cover to cover for potential clues to what they might be facing. With Mulan as his chaperone, Henry went back to Snow and Charming's to read the book. In the meantime, Regina, who was giving Emma the silent treatment, noticed the book she had left behind the night before sitting on a table at the far side of the library. 

"I will be right back," Regina said as she moved to pick up the book from the table.

"What do you mean right back? I don't think it's smart for us to separate in case another storm kicks up."

"I'm not going for a walk. I’m going to transport to my crypt, to return this, and come right back."

"Still I think we should stick together."

Exasperated, Regina crossed the room, grabbed Emma's forearm, and before the blonde could insist anything else the two of them were standing in the crypt. Emma immediately reached for the archway; her body fighting the dizzy feeling Regina knew was coming over her. It served the meddling blonde right for being so damn stubborn. Where Regina's hand was touching Emma’s jacket began to grow warm with magic and Regina let go. "Happy." 

From Emma's reaction to the transport, Regina knew they would need to give Emma a little time before they went back to the library. Another trip so soon and Emma would be unable to help for the remainder of the day and even though Regina wanted the blonde out of her sight she needed Emma to retrace her steps. Perhaps checking out where the portal dropped them might provide some more clues. 

So you checked all of these?" Emma asked as she moved slowly through the crypt, taking a seat on a trunk. “Impressive.”

"All but that one,’ Regina said pointing. “It’s off limits, even to me.”

Emma stood to walk towards where Regina was pointing. She didn’t make it very far before dizziness put her back down again. “It might have the answers we need.”

“It might. It also might turn me back into a vengeful monster, Ms. Swan and since you are on the top of my list right now, it would be best not to tempt fate.”

Surprisingly, Emma changed the subject. “Shouldn’t we head back and wait for Mulan?”

“Your system isn’t as acclimated to teleportation as mine is. You won’t be able to stand up the rest of the day if we go again so soon.”

‘So teach me.”

The laugh escaped Regina before she was even aware of it. “A lesson, now, while we are faced with figuring out an unexplainable blizzard? You are the last person on this planet I want to spend time with let alone have to speak to.”

“Look, Regina, I understand you’re mad at me.”

“That, Ms. Swan, is the understatement of the year.”

“I meant well.”

“You meant to barrel in head first without giving any thought to how your actions would affect anyone else. What you did was foolish, dangerous, and might have gotten you killed?”

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you cared.”

“Don’t mistake our son’s happiness with concern for you or your pirate.”

Emma stood and managed to move in Regina’s direction without help. “Pretend all you want Regina, it isn't all about Henry. You can't stand there and tell me that when you taught me before you were doing so for his benefit.”

“That is, absolutely, why I wasted my time teaching you magic.”

“You can’t stay angry me.”

“Oh, I can and I will.”

“Regina, we both know what I did was honorable. Hell, it was something that had Henry been in my place he would have done. I never meant...”

“Why am I letting you go around and around about this again?” 

“Because you know I’m right.”

Regina took a step closer to Emma and grabbed her. They were mere inches apart, emotions swirling, and eyes locked. In a heartbeat, they were teleported back to the library.

As they touched down Emma swayed, the dizziness that had lifted returned. Regina had no choice but to catch her. They stood for just a moment longer than was comfortable before something snapped Regina back and she released her hold. Emma managed to stay standing. 

Regina made her retreat to the door and opened it. “Enough. We will wait here, silently, for Mulan and then head to where you and Hook landed back from the past.”

Holding on to the doorframe Regina was dizzy, although she feared not from the teleportation. The fresh air was defusing emotions Regina forbade herself from processing.


	7. Chapter 7

“Okay, that’s a rush,” Emma said as she swayed but managed to stay standing. “Let’s not do that again anytime soon.”

In the doorway, the cool crisp air calmed Regina’s frustration over the blonde’s incessant need to explain her actions. She ignored Emma’s acknowledgment of the teleportation dizziness and got back on task, which was a better use of her time than going twelve rounds with Emma Swan. "Tell me everything that happened. Who you met, what you touched?"

Emma's movement was labored but she made it across the room, removed her jacket, and took a seat. "Everything is essentially the same way Hook and I left it."

" 'Essentially' is what worries me," Regina said turning back to the library and closing the door. "Things changed and change is bad when dealing with timelines."

"Well, sticking around there wasn't an option."

"Every person you interacted with had a new experience. Those may seem slight to you but even the tiniest ripple is cause for concern."

"We were careful."

"Indeed," Regina said sarcastically since her definition of careful didn't include hitchhikers. "What exactly happened?"

"Well, we were sucked into some vortex in that barn on the edge of town. The second we landed we found we were in the woods and saw a village being terrorized by the...” Emma paused for a moment and looked off to the stacks. “The Evil Queen.”

Regina attempted to ignore the shame she felt at the thought of Emma witnessing what she guessed was her well-documented brutality.

“But don’t worry, Hook stopped me from stepping in to help."

"Had you tried I would have killed you without a second thought,” Regina offered, coldly.

"She wasn't you,” Emma replied with compassion in her tone.

"Oh, but she was me, Ms. Swan. That was very much me."

"Not anymore."

"The woman you encountered was filled with blind, all-consuming, rage which when mixed with powerful dark magic is deadly." 

"Well, we remained safety hidden from you until much later?"

"What do you mean by much later?"

"We met," Emma added as she slowly rose from her chair and, as casually as a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar, moved to examine books on one of the shelves.

"What? When?"

"I kind of, accidentally, changed how my parents met so I needed to fix it and while doing that you turned up."

It was like cards toppling over in Wonderland. What Emma was describing could have ruined everything. No true love between Snow and Charming meant there was no Emma, and without Emma, there would have been no Henry. Regina refused to consider the last part and instead cut the distance between them in half. "You might have destroyed everything."

"Yes. Which is why I set out to fix it."

"How?"

"I made sure my parents met at my father's engagement to Kathryn or Abigail, whoever she is, or was," Emma shared and then the guilty tone was back as she quickly rambled the final piece. "It only took some help from Gold to pull it off."

Every time Emma Swan opened her mouth, things got worse. Regina threw her hands out at her side. "You made a deal with the Dark One."

"We had to find Gold. He was the only person we knew of who had the knowledge and magic we required."

Regina moved closer to the blonde, fighting the urge to shake her. "What deal did you make with him?"

"There was no deal," Emma said confidently. 

"There is always a deal."

"I convinced him that without me making things right with my parents there would be no savior and without the savior, his manipulation of events would've been for nothing. He had to help once he knew, that I knew, he was looking for Neil. So Gold made it so Hook and I were able to arrange my parent’s meeting at the engagement party."

Regina tried not to let pride in Emma's bold gamble cloud her anger. She was failing as curiosity started to influence her questions. "How did you gain access? As servants?"

"With a royal invitation." Emma casually answered.

"Impossible. I was at that party and I wouldn't have forgotten you," Regina said unable to hold eye contact and taking a few steps away. "The wealthy people of my land I always took note of so I could use them to my advantage. How did I not recognize you when you returned Henry to Storybrooke? My memories were never erased."

"Gold saw to it we didn’t further damage the timeline by placing a glamour on Hook and I so we could move in plain sight without detection amongst my father and his guests."

Regina turned back and stared at Emma like she was studying a painting. Memories of the engagement party, of Snow's eventual capture and subsequent escape, all flipped through Regina’s mind and after a moment she had her answer. There had been only one person who had seemingly interfered in Regina’s quest to capture Snow White. "Princess Leia?"

Emma's eyes grew wide, "Yes, Exactly."

"I knew she was lying. There was no air of royalty about her, about you."

"Well, technically I was, am, royalty."

Regina's eyes rolled. "I placed you in my dungeon."

"Yes."

"You escaped?"

"Yes." Pride washed over Emma Swan.

Regina needed to know. "Magic?"

"Ingenuity. The same kind that got us into this library."

"And Snow? Was it you that saved your mother?"

"No, I watched her burn or I thought I had." The pain was instantly visible on Emma's face. 

Snow's escape had infuriated Regina at the time. The realization of how a different outcome would have erased everything Regina now cherished washed away the pangs of the defeat. In its place was more shame of her past actions. The conflict made Regina feel weak and vulnerable. Making matters worse, Emma Swan was witnessing it. “In your alteration of the past I very nearly killed your mother." 

Emma moved to where Regina now stood. "I know, believe me, I know. I felt everything you are feeling now but in the end, it worked out. My mother lived and my parents fell in love. I was born and met Neil. Henry came to be our son."

It was a lot to bear so Regina pushed her emotions aside. "What then? How did you return?"

"Satisfied things were back in order, Gold double-crossed us and locked Hook and me in his dark vault. He didn't count on me having magic and I managed to re-open the portal home."

"The dark vault. Could something have traveled back with you from there?"

"I don't see how something could have slipped through without notice.”

"Unless Marion has powers she's not sharing with us, something else did. And if Gold had it locked up, it can't be good."

The door to the library opened and Mulan entered. "Henry is safe with Snow and feverishly reading the story. I asked around a little. No one at the diner has any knowledge of a Snow Queen."

"That doesn't mean Henry isn't onto something," Regina relented. Now that she had more of the story her son's theory was their best bet. "Perhaps this Snow Queen was locked in, say, a dark vault."

The judgmental look in Swan's direction didn't go unnoticed by the blonde. "I'm telling you we didn't bring anything back."

"Show me where you returned to Storybrooke."

\---

The trio made their way to the abandoned barn. A short while before they had reached their destination, Snow had called to inform Emma that Aurora had gone into labor. The news was met with sad joy from the warrior. Mulan's reaction didn't go unnoticed but thankfully, before questions could be asked, Regina had silently managed to spare Mulan an inquisition with a very pointed look in Emma’s direction. 

The moment Regina started to change the subject the barn came into view.

“This is the place," Emma said, pointing. 

The abandoned barn sat unremarkable and rundown. The path to the entrance, like most of Storybrooke, was covered with snow. Regina used her magic to slowly deliver heat in the direction of the large drifts as to not destroy any possible evidence. As the snow melted a path to the barn materialized.

Once inside, the trio set out looking for clues. It didn't take Regina long to note the pattern on the barn floor. Pulling her phone from her jacket, Regina snapped some photos before venturing closer to the center of the room and the symbol etched in it.

Mulan approached from the side and pointed towards what looked to be cracked clay on the floor of the barn. "Could someone or something been in whatever that once was?"

Moving very carefully Regina reached the remnants of what might have been some kind of vessel. Trapping magical beings in bottles was not unheard of in their world. "Very possibly. It seems you did bring back more than just the end of my relationship, Ms. Swan."

Emma moved from the back of the barn towards where the other two women stood. "I don't understand why you are so upset about Robin."

"Excuse me," Regina said, looking up from the floor and towards Emma.

Emma shrugged. "I don't understand."

"What is there to understand? You brought his wife back."

"Yes, I did. I brought back the wife of some man that for some reason you trusted instantly. You don't trust people, Regina. It's not like you."

"Perhaps this discussion can wait until we figure out what that is?" Mulan said pointing to the symbol on the barn floor.

Regina dismissed the warrior with a look and then quickly turned back to defend herself from Emma's question. "It's called growth."

"You literary handed him your heart before fighting Zelena. That wasn't a Regina move."

"It helped save the town."

"Giving someone your heart might have given you the edge against your sister but giving it to Robin could have been yours, and everyone else’s, undoing?"

"Who was I going to give it to, Ms. Swan? Henry didn't know who I was."

“I’m going to let you two work this out,” Mulan said as she made her way out of the barn in an attempt to escape the crossfire.

Emma moved closer to the center of the room. "Any number of people in this town could have been trusted."

A laugh escaped Regina's throat filling the barn with sound. "Any number of people in this town still want to see me dead for my past deeds."

"My mother. My father. Hell, I could have been trusted to protect it and yet you chose a thief."

"Awfully judgmental when you consider your mother shares a similar path as Robin and your pirate is hardly altruistic."

"I’ve read the tale, Regina. Rob the rich and give to the poor. Robin Hood could have sold you out to Zelena for any number of favors and all would have been lost. Hell, he might have been working for her."

"But he wasn't.”

“But Regina Mills would have considered those possibilities and gone with another plan.” 

“Perhaps your mother's fondness for having hope rubbed off on me and I decided to take a chance."

"Or perhaps you were on a suicide mission."

The air in the barn went dead still. "How dare you?"

"Regina, you were upset about Henry. You learned you had a sister who was trouncing you in the magic department. You can't tell me it didn't affect you. I could see it did."

"This coming from the woman who is mooning over a man who was once in love with Gold's wife, a wife who was also Neal's mother." 

"You can't compare the two."

"Oh, I can." Regina snapped.

"How long were you and Graham together?"

The fast change in questioning threw Regina. "What?”

“How long?”

“For me, a long time but for him no time at all. You might recall there was a curse."

"My point exactly. You had 28 years to start trusting people and yet you never once did."

"Revenge was my only goal until after the curse broke."

"And so, poof, now you instantly trust someone like Robin Hood?"

"Yes."

It was Emma’s turn to laugh. "No."

"Why not?"

"You picked him hoping he would let you down." 

"Excuse me."

"Regina, the missing year was gone for you. Any connection from that time, including Robin, was erased. You handed your heart to a stranger.” 

"Walk a mile in my heels, Miss Swan and you will see that loneliness has the power to motivate many strange decisions."

"And there it is. Finally. The truth reveals itself."

The trap had sprung and Regina had fallen into it. "You have no right to judge me."

"I'm not judging you, Regina. I'm being your friend. I've been where you are. Hell, during the last year I almost got engaged to a flying monkey. I'm just trying to make you see that maybe Marion's return will give you the time you need to figure out what Robin really means to you."

"So you can once again be the almighty savior of Storybrooke? Your guilt removed the second I realize my foolish choices? I refuse to give you the satisfaction. I'm finished here." And with that Regina transported herself back to her house leaving Mulan to finish dealing with Emma and the obvious arrival of something from the past that had buried Storybrooke in the snow.

\----

The knock at the front door had come sometime later. Regina considered not answering it but felt if it were Henry or Mulan she was obligated to let them in. 

Opening the door, Regina was relieved she found Mulan on the stoop and not Emma. 

In the warrior’s hand was a bag filled with pieces from the shattered vessel.

“Come in,” Regina said as she moved out of the way.

Mulan did so. “Henry asked me to tell you to call him later so he can give you the details of the story.” 

“Of course,” Regina replied as she closed the front door and gestured for Mulan to continue on.

The pair once again found their way into the sitting room where Regina took up her role as hostess, making them tea and starting a fire. 

The room had stayed silent for quite a long time until Mulan finally spoke. "It was difficult for me to ignore your disagreement with Emma. I'm sorry if her observation upset you."

“She didn't upset me. She frustrates me. There is a difference.”

“Regina, you showed me a kindness by letting me stay here and so I don't wish to overstep,” 

“Then don't.” 

“You seem upset.”

Regina instantly shifted into detached, neutrality, which was a skill she had honed over years of being her mother’s daughter. “Well, I’m really not. Thank you for bringing me the pieces. Make yourself at home.”

There was no time for fireplace chats about feelings. The town needed to be protected, work had to be done. So after returning her still full cup of tea to the kitchen, Regina retrieved the bag of broken clay. “I’m going to see if what you brought offers any clues." Regina gave a fake smile to Mulan and disappeared in a plume of magic smoke. 

\---


	8. Chapter 8

More books, or more specifically the same books, were pored over again but this time Henry's theory and the clues from the scene of Emma's return were the focus of Regina's research. As the evening wore on every page still came up empty. Snow Queens and magic bottles were no more prevalent than weather control spells. The closest Regina got to any kind of lead was a reference to a certain genie from a faraway land. Obviously, Sidney wasn't the source of their blizzard since he was still locked up. There were a couple spells that spoke of trapping someone in a temporary prison, which wasn't going to help them find the culprit. That's not to say Regina didn't make a mental note of said spells in case the need were to ever present itself. She also made a mental note to release Sidney when all this was over since it was hard to feel redeemed while holding someone hostage in a mental ward.

Placing the tenth dead-end book back on the table Regina decided that perhaps she wasn't looking at things the right way. What if the key was tracking the source of the magic instead of identifying the magic? Sure, it might mean a dangerous face off with whomever had been in the now broken bottle but it would at least give them eyes on who or what was causing all the ice and snow. 

First, she needed the bottle to be back in its original form. It was a simple fix. A basic repair spell and the pieces of the bottle swirled on the table and up into the air in a magical dance. One by one the broken ceramic pieces started to reform while hovering in midair. As the last piece snapped in, the bottle floated gently back onto the center of the stone table. 

With the bottle back together it was time for a locator spell. After spreading on the table a map of Storybrooke, Regina put the bottle in the center of it and began a variation of the spell she had used to locate the spell books in Belle's library. 

After a wave of her arms a sprinkling of energy erupted from the bottle and into the air. It fell like rain onto the map. For a moment everything twinkled a bright, almost blinding, blue and then the light show disappeared leaving only one small, pulsing blue glow on the parchment. It seemed to be centered on a patch of woods surrounding the southern part of town. 

Collecting a heavy black fur jacket she had in one of the trunks, Regina put it on and then waved her hands in the air. In a blink of an eye, she was out of the crypt and standing amongst a gathering of trees deep in the woods. It was a good thing she had left on her boots from earlier in the day because she was buried up to her mid-calf in the snow. 

From the position of the sun, it was nearly dusk. In front and to Regina's right a baby deer was making its way through a patch of trees. Regina smiled as the animal seemed to question the cold, white stuff on the ground. The fawn, with its little white tail, moved slowly through the snow. The drift wasn’t as high as it was and so it was able to explore. As she watched it hesitate and then grow confident enough to begin moving through the powder something else caught Regina's eye. Slightly to the left was a figure sitting quietly on a tree stump also watching nature play out. 

The figure was blonde and very beautiful. She was wearing a long, blue, shimmering dress and was intently watching the animal as it maneuvered. Regina was far enough away to remain concealed but close enough to make out the look of either wonder or worry on the woman's face. She wasn't someone Regina recognized and her clothing was obviously not from Storybrooke. It looked as if the locator spell had done the trick. Regina was certain the source of the blizzard was sitting before her. 

The next question was what to do. Regina was hardly the 'wait and see' type, however, there was something about the demeanor of the woman in blue that made Regina want to study her before going on offense. Something about the curious way she watched the fawn bounce through the snow, fall into drifts, and continue along that didn’t speak to any evil Regina knew. She was willing to bet the weather issue wasn’t being caused by Henry’s Snow Queen but instead someone much more gentle. There was a stillness, perhaps even a loneliness, to what Regina was witnessing. 

When the baby deer got to a clearing of trees a branch dumped a large pile of snow on the animal. It buried the deer and startled the woman. As the tiny fawn’s head emerged from the pile Regina chuckled loud enough that she didn't have to consider her next move. The noise had drawn the blonde's focus towards were Regina was hiding. 

"Who goes there?"

Before Regina could conceal herself behind a tree the two women made eye contact and fear crossed the blonde's face. The fear was quickly followed by a fast blast of ice and snow, which shot from the blonde's hands. A large ice form grew out of the ground only a few feet from where Regina stood which caused her to stumble back a few steps.

There were two options fight or flight but the moment the first bit of bitter cold touched Regina's face there was only one. Raising her hands in the air Regina conjured fire and sent it towards the ice form. It melted on contact, as did the driving snow on the other side of it. As snow turned to rain the blonde looked at Regina as she had the baby deer. For the briefest moment, the woman paused, perhaps considering what had just happened. As quickly as the woman stopped, her hands went back into the air and a second faster blast of snow and ice shot from them. Regina reloaded her magic to fight back. 

The retaliation took out most of the arctic cold that was flying towards Regina but not all of it. She was jolted by something and a sharp pain on her forehead followed and then there was a feeling of falling. As her body touched the earth, the cold white powder coated Regina’s prone form before everything went dark. 

\---

Pain, sharp pain, was followed by a cold that burned all of Regina’s exposed skin while a warmth over her right eye gave her a pretty good idea that she was bleeding. Regina managed to blink for only a second against a blizzard that filled the world around her. This time it was she, and not Emma, who was in the thick of it but unlike Emma, Regina knew how to vacate the situation. While lying on her back she waved her hands in the air and found herself immediately replacing a snow drift with the hard, dry, floor of the crypt. 

Getting up slowly Regina moved to a mirror to check the damage. She had a pretty substantial cut on her forehead and a large bump to go with it. Grabbing a scrap of cloth she applied pressure to stop the bleeding while she made certain she didn’t have any frostbite to contend with on the parts of her body, like her hands and face, that hadn’t been covered by clothing. All of this was followed by a simple warming spell to take away the chill.

The brief battle had solidified that this was a very scared newcomer causing the issues in Storybrooke and not someone wanting to cause harm. Yes, Regina was feeling very banged up but the blonde’s actions seemed to be motivated out of fear and self-defense but not destruction. This knowledge didn't help much since it added complications to their predicament. Fear was dangerous when leading the way.

Confident she had escaped fairly unscathed, Regina fought off a yawn. She wasn't sure what time it was but her body was telling her it was time to sleep. Tomorrow was another day so she brushed herself off, returned her large jacket to the trunk and magicked back to the mansion. 

Upon returning to the house, she discovered Mulan sound asleep on the sofa. Moving to the hall closet Regina pulled a quilt from the top shelf and moved back to cover the warrior. It was as Regina turned back into the room that she saw it, another storm churning outside. It seemed the confrontation had spread the snow magic to all of Storybrooke and not just the woods. Regina placed the blanket over Mulan and then pulled out her phone and turned it on. She was greeted with a large list of new messages. 

She hit play on the first one. 

"Mom, it's me. Storms back. I'm good. Everyone's at the apartment. Are you okay?."

Going to her speed dial Regina called Henry back. The young man answered on the first ring. 

"Mom! Where are you?"

"I'm at the house. Everything is fine."

"Why didn’t you pick up? Everyone was worried."

"I was at the crypt," Regina selectively shared. "I was trying to investigate your theory and lost track of time."

"You could have checked in," Henry scolded. "She's okay. She was reading up on more stuff."

There was a rustle at the other end of the call and then the unmistakable voice of Emma Swan replaced Henry's. "Did you find anything?"

"Nothing that will help us counteract what's happening but I didn't come up entirely empty. I used a locator spell."

"Should we really be knocking on the front door of the responsible party before we know what we are up against?" 

"I didn't do it to bring her by an apple pie. I was trying to gather information."

"We aren't going to get eyes on anyone in what's going on outside,” Emma pointed out and then paused. “Wait, her?

"We can touch base in the morning. Put Henry back on."

"Regina, what do you mean, her? You saw who’s behind this?"

"The morning. Put Henry on the phone."

“Regina.”

“Emma, I’m tired. We can deal with it in the morning.” The use of the sheriff’s first name was unusual for Regina and felt strange to say out loud but she chalked it up to exhaustion and a mild head injury.

On the other end of the call, Emma Swan yelled for her son to take the phone back and then added a frustrated sigh. "Henry, your mom wants to talk to you."

"Hey, Mom."

"I'm sorry that you were worried."

"It's okay. I'm just glad you are alright." Regina could hear the smile in her son’s tone. 

"I'm fine. Try and get some rest."

"Okay. You should too."

"I will. I love you, Henry."

"Love you, Mom."

The call was disconnected and Regina stood dead still, letting the warm feeling Henry had evoked fill her heart. Since she started to see that letting goodness into her life wasn’t a sign of weakness everything was amplified when it came to Henry's place in her life. He was no longer a possession or something to control, he was the one good thing in her life she had taken part in. The rest of her actions were examples of selfishness, revenge, and fear but not her son. 

Turning the phone off, Regina returned it to her pocket. She didn't want a follow-up call from Emma looking for answers. 

"Is everything, okay?" A drowsy Mulan asked from where she now sat on the sofa. 

"The storm’s back."

Mulan stood. "What's the plan?"

"Sleep. Nothing we can do with it blowing like it is outside."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Head upstairs and get some rest."

Mulan began to move in the direction of the hallway, passing Regina, when something stopped her. "What happened to your forehead?"

Regina had stopped the bleeding but it would still be obvious she had been hurt. "I'm fine. Bumped it. That's all."

"Are you sure? It looks quite bad."

"I'm fine. Nothing to worry about," Regina said as she waved her hand and made the cut and the bump disappear. The pain as it mended itself was hard to pretend was nothing but Regina held her breath as the shearing burning sensation enveloped her head. Exhaling, Regina forced a smile. "Good night, Mulan."

"Good night, Regina." The warrior still looked concerned but made her way out into the hallway and up the steps.

After folding up the quilt and straightening up the living room, Regina headed to her bedroom. While flipping on the light a chill, brought on by the obvious sounds of whipping wind, ran through Regina. It was a good thing the power was holding. 

After getting ready for bed, Regina climbed under as many covers as she could. If the power didn't hold she didn't want to end up freezing to death in her sleep. Turning over to plug in her phone, the unopened message alerts caught her attention and she turned the phone back on. At first, she was just going to delete them outright but curiosity got the better of her and Regina decided to listen. Laying in the dark the messages played.

First came the one Regina had already heard. "Mom, it's me. Storms back. I'm good. Everyone's at the apartment. Are you okay?"

It was followed about ten minutes later by another call from Henry. “Mom, it would be really great if you called one of us back. So call, okay?”

Five minutes after the previous one it was Henry again and he was growing frustrated and very worried. “Okay, really, whatever you’re doing, call us. I’ve already had one Mom trapped in a blizzard this week. I would rather not be worried about you. Call us!”

Almost immediately after Henry’s call, another one came in from a different number. "Look, Regina. Just call the kid. He's worried and, frankly, so am I. So just call him back before I go barreling headfirst into a blizzard and then you have to be the one to rescue me.”

The realization that Emma would be the one needing rescuing made Regina smile. It seemed Snow White’s daughter was aware she wasn’t the most responsible or skilled when she acted without thought. There was something else that was making Regina smile but that was something best left unexplored.


	9. Chapter 9

After decades of repeating the same mundane existence, Regina had gotten pretty good at predicting the hour of the day by the view outside. Since the original curse lifted, some mornings it had become more difficult. This was one of those times. Rolling over, all that she could see was snow slamming violently against the window as the wind howled. She couldn't be sure if it was six am or two pm and, as her body still ached from the confrontation with the blonde in the blue dress, she wasn't exactly rested enough to accurately guess. Regina wanted to close her eyes and go back to sleep but her stomach was vetoing the plan. She needed something to eat and an aspirin, or five. 

Grabbing her phone, Regina saw it was after ten am which meant the latest weather assault on Storybrooke had gone sixteen hours and counting. This wasn't good news. It confirmed that the power of the magic they were dealing with was very strong. It also told her the woman was very frightened or wasn’t very good at controlling her power, or worse, both.

Along with telling the time of day, her phone indicated multiple messages waiting for her from Henry's number. Regina considered calling him back but she guessed it was just Swan with more questions. It wasn't late enough in the day to deal with that particular blonde. She needed to clear her head, ease her muscles, and have breakfast before the third degree. 

As Regina started to climb out of bed there was a flash of something in the corner of her bedroom. Her eyes adjusted a split second before she nearly obliterated the intruder that stepped out of the shadows. 

"Ummm, morning," said Emma Swan. The blonde had surprise painted on her face as she took in the surroundings.

"Is Henry okay?", Regina shouted as adrenaline and magic coursed through her body in a dangerous way. 

"He's fine," Emma replied her hands up in a defensive position.

"Then, get out!" Regina shouted with a fireball dancing in her hand. 

"You said we would talk in the morning and its morning. I even let you sleep in."

"Get out of here before I do something Henry would find unforgivable."

"Regina, the storm hasn't let up. The town needs us."

"Not until a hot shower and my second cup of coffee. Now, get out of my bedroom." Regina demanded as she extinguished the fireball but not the fire in her eyes. 

Emma moved to the door and opened it. "From your attitude at least I know you're okay." She didn't wait for a response. Emma moved out into the hallway, closing the bedroom door behind her. 

Regina took a deep breath in an attempt to calm her emotions. Emma Swan was the most infuriating person in the entire universe. She was pushy, stubborn, and typically ended up right about everything, the final fact being something Regina would never admit to anyone. 

They needed to put a stop to the blonde in the blue dress but first Regina needed to have a brief respite. Determined not to think of any of it until after her coffee, Regina moved to the master bathroom and turned the hot water on as high as her body could handle. After removing her clothing, she climbed into the shower and allowed the heat to do its job. Although her muscles were grateful for the attention her brain wouldn't shut off. "Damn." 

\---

Showered, Regina glanced out the bedroom window and confirmed Emma's news. Where the previous blizzard had only left a few feet this time the accumulation had doubled. The good news was at some point during her shower the snow had finally stopped but Storybrooke was a giant sea of white. Another storm, like the one they had just endured, and the town wouldn't be able to dig out. 

Since there was a very good chance her day would have to include a walk in the winter nightmare that was Storybrooke, Regina decided to forego her normal attire and throw on something comfortable and warm. Jeans replaced her usual pencil skirts and a heavy wool sweater replaced her usual shirt and suit jacket. Staring into her shoe collection she realized she was limited to sneakers since all of her winter boots were in storage in the basement. 

After tying her shoes, she took one last look at herself in the mirror. The injury from the night before was beginning to show itself in the form of a bruise. Knowing any additional magical healing would only make her lingering headache worse; she opted for some concealer before heading downstairs. 

Reaching the first floor and turning the corner to the dining room, she saw Mulan and Emma once again enjoying breakfast at the table. The pair sat next to one another while at the head of the table, a coffee cup sat before a third plate of food obviously intended for Regina. Reaching the mug and seeing it was empty, she silently moved to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee. After filling the cup, she took a couple sips before returning to the dining room. It was time to get down to business. 

To someone's credit, of which Regina suspected Mulan's, the breakfast smelled wonderful. Taking a seat, Regina took a bite. It was delicious. After her third bite, Regina addressed the room. "I thought you had questions."

"I thought you said not until after your second cup of coffee," Emma replied, smugly.

"Get off your cross and ask."

Mulan looked up puzzled while Emma unsuccessfully fought a smile. "Who did you see last night?"

"A blonde woman, someone I didn't recognize, so she is new to Storybrooke. She was perhaps in her early twenties, blonde hair twisted into a braid, beautiful, wearing a long flowing blue dress with more yards of fabric than would be necessary for casual wear, more like for a formal event. I would say it indicated she is some kind of royalty or sees herself that way. Oh, and she can shoot snow and ice from her hands." 

Mulan was surprised by the turn of events. "How did you find her?" 

"I took a guess and used the broken bottle we found to track the source of her magic. Obviously, she hitched a ride back in it and managed to escape when she arrived here."

Emma put her mug back down and looked pointedly at Regina. "And so you went after her with no idea what you were up against."

"I handled it."

"You could have gotten yourself killed."

"Your concern is touching, Ms. Swan."

"You spoke to her?" Mulan asked, interrupting the escalating tension.

"No, but when she discovered me, I saw fear, not vengeance or destruction, in her eyes."

Mulan interjected. "It stands to reason, whomever this woman is, she isn't Henry's evil ice queen."

"How can we be sure," Emma said, focusing on the mystery instead of feuding with Regina. “You said, royalty?”

"Yes and Mulan is right," Regina turned and stared at the blonde. "I know what evil looks like."

Emma went silent and Mulan took over the questioning. "What happened when she saw you?"

"We faced off and from what she threw at me the new storm is a result of our confrontation."

"How did she get away from you?"

Regina hated admitting what happened especially around Emma. "She got the drop on me."

Emma found her words again. "Were you hurt?"

"Your head," Mulan said, filling in the blanks from what she saw the night before.

"Yes, and it's fine. It was only a scratch."

Emma rolled her eyes but didn't argue. "So how do we stop her?"

"A stasis spell is probably our best option but this last storm is proof whatever magic this woman has is very powerful. The ones I know of to trap someone, I'm afraid they wouldn't be good enough to hold her and the only other one I vaguely recall hearing about we can't use."

"Why not?" Mulan asked.

"It's dark magic."

Emma shrugged. "So we'll have Gold do it."

Regina needed to stop the line of thinking before it even started. "Has he turned up yet?"

"No."

"So we try another way," Mulan suggested. "We can locate her with the bottle. At the very least, you could send me to keep watch on her from a safe distance. I'm a very good tracker."

"If we were to end up in blizzard conditions again it would be too dangerous for you out there. You would freeze to death.'

Emma shook her head. "Can't we just use some other version of the spell you mentioned? We could both cast it. Double the strength. Just long enough to explain ourselves."

"It doesn’t work that way."

"You can't know every spell," Emma argued. "We'll check the books again."

Regina’s temper was starting to grow. "I no more want the town turned into a popsicle than you do. I tore through every volume again last night. Had I seen something that was strong enough to hold the person that is causing this winter wonderland I would have suggested it."

"Teach me how to manage the dark spell," Emma suggested.

"No."

Emma began to raise her voice. "What's the alternative? You can't go near it."

"And you can't manage to transport yourself without turning up in my bedroom, Ms. Swan. I'm sure as hell not going to risk opening you up to dark magic."

"Well, this woman doesn't seem keen on having a casual chat. Just break it down for me. A week ago I couldn't manage the transport spell. I'm a quick learner."

"There will be no more discussion. We either wait it out until we can locate Gold or come up with another plan."

"One involving getting knocked on one's ass by sixty miles an hour winds?"

"I think in this case it would be wise to wait." Mulan offered as the other two women stared each other down. 

\---

Mulan had managed to keep the rest of the meal civil by asking for updates from Emma on the town. It seemed the Charming household spent the night fielding calls from residents. There was now a laundry list of damage reports. 

A plan of action was worked out that included every townsperson pulling their own weight. Each person would be responsible for helping themselves and their neighbors dig out the residential areas and then the larger issues, like downed power lines and trees, would be handled by the public works department. By the time the unofficial meeting was over the plan was finalized without any more discussion of magic spells. Regina hoped it had finally sunk in. 

It wasn't until Regina had finished the dishes and realized it was far too quiet in the other room that she began to worry. After drying her hands on a towel she made her way into the dining room to find it empty.

Regina marched into the family room and found Mulan, sitting alone, drinking from a mug. "Where did Emma go?"

"She said she needed to check on Henry at the diner."

Immediately, suspicion rose inside Regina. "Then so do we. Can you travel?"

"Yes."

Without asking anything else, Regina grabbed hold of Mulan's hand and sent them to Grannie's diner. 

\- - - 

"There has to be someone who can use the spell," Leroy said.

"I agree with Regina. I'm sorry Emma, but dark magic is off limits." Snow White said as she stepped forward and nearly collided with a newly materialized Regina and Mulan.

Mulan braced herself on a very surprised Hook while Regina spun to address the room having heard Snow's words, as if through a tunnel, as they materialized. "This isn't open for discussion."

Charming stood from the stool he was seated on. "It seems it is."

Before Regina could let the foolish Prince have it, Snow shot her husband a look, which meant 'hush'. "Regina knows the most about this kind of magic. There is no point in organizing something that could make matters worse for Storybrooke."

"Who says it would be worse," Emma offered up. 

"Has nothing that's happened in this town taught you the dangers of magic? At the very least someone could be hurt." Snow offered.

"Can't be any worse than what she did to us." Leroy pointed and slurred from his space at the back booth.

Regina shot him a look that made a handful of those assembled take a step back including Marian. Noticing Robin and his wife at the town meeting, and not wishing to dwell on their presence, Regina turned her attention to Emma to avoid the sight of them. Regina made her tone as strong as her stare. "This is why you shouldn't have told them."

Emma crossed her arms. "They deserve to know what we are facing. They deserve to have a say."

"Regina, there is no need to worry," Snow said as she moved to her side. "No one is searching out dark magic to capture this woman. We will find another way."

"How?" Emma asked. 

"Swan, your mother is right," Hook interjected. "I don't think this is a very good idea."

"If Regina has reason to fear it, you shouldn't be exposed to it," Emma's father said, changing his earlier tune. 

"Regina's instincts should be trusted," Robin interjected, which wasn't exactly a welcome vote of support. 

"I'm a better option than the town owing anything to Gold," Emma countered.

"What if I go and photograph the pages?" Henry spoke from the doorway that led to the bed and breakfast.

"No!" Both his mother's said in unison.

"You are to stay away from that crypt, young man," Regina said while moving towards her son. "This is non-negotiable. Your bloodline is half Rumple's and half the product of true love. We have no way of knowing the consequences of you going near something that dark."

"Your mom’s right, kid. None of us could handle losing you again like we did with Pan." Emma emphasized. 

"Well, there was to be some way to deal with things before the entire town gets buried," Henry optimistically offered up. 

"We have no idea the consequences of exposing anyone to that book, no matter their magical potential," Regina said, as she took Henry's hand. "I promise, we will figure something out that doesn't result in an outcome none of us are equipped to handle."

"What your mother said," Emma reinforced. 

"We will find another way," Snow added as the final word on the matter. If Snow White said it the town would go along with it.

It was such an unusual feeling, to be on the same side as Snow White but as her son nodded, Regina was grateful she was, if only for him. 

\----

After being pressured by Snow White, Mulan had set out to visit Aurora at the hospital. Since many of the roads were still impassible Regina wasn't about to let her go alone. Regina had offered to teleport them but Mulan had said she was feeling unwell from the last trip and wanted to walk. The excuse was certainly a lie that Regina suspected was to stall the reunion so she didn't push. Instead, they made their way on foot as Regina used heat magic to melt a path.

During the almost one mile walk, it became clear that if the snow didn't bury the town a flash flood as it melted might. Many feet of snow turned to water the instant heat magic hit it and very quickly the pair was facing gallons of water that were left behind. Regina had to ramp up her fire magic not only to remove the snow but also evaporate the water. By the time they reached where they were going Regina was exhausted. 

Entering the hospital, Dr. Whale was waiting to greet them. Snow had called ahead to say Mulan would be stopping to see Aurora and the new baby. Regina had offered to stay but Mulan had said she would be fine. Wanting to give the warrior some space, Regina agreed to meet her back at the house. 

A myriad of emotions passed over the warrior's face as she prepared to follow Dr. Whale to Aurora's room. The looks confirming everything Regina had been wondering. Unrequited love was powerful and cruel and Regina didn't envy that kind of torture, especially for such a kind and noble soul. 

Regina had considered transporting home but figured she could use the walk to clear her own head while helping the town dig out. If anyone asked she would deny the second part was a motive. So for another mile, she made her way home melting and evaporating what she could dispose of safely. A familiar tingling, having used so much magic, began to replace the physical aches from her confrontation with the magical stranger in the woods. Her excessive use of magic was bordering on dangerous for someone who had a liking for the feeling of powerful magic. Luckily, Regina wasn't far from the house when the sensation had kicked in. 

About three blocks from her home, Regina heard the unmistakable sound of a four-legged follower. Regina knew it was Ruby even before the wolf reached her side. It seemed the shape-shifting waitress had gotten Regina's note. 

When they reached the house, Regina unlocked the front door and opened it. "Wipe your feet," she said pointing to the floor mat. 

The animal did as it was told and then entered the house. 

"Let me find you something to wear," Regina said as she retrieved a large blanket from the hallway closet, placed it on the banister, and then headed upstairs to find clothes for after her guest's transformation. 

Before digging them out, Regina went to the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. Anything to shock her system from the magical state she had put herself in for the last two hours. Eventually feeling some of the magical cravings disappear, she went about locating clothes for Ruby. It didn't take long to find a pair of running pants and a t-shirt which Regina brought back downstairs and handed over. 

Transformed and wrapped in the comforter that Regina had left on the stairs, the waitress smiled, "Thanks. The wolf was the easiest way to sneak away."

"You can change in my office. It's through there." Regina pointed and then started to the kitchen. "I'm going to make some coffee. Would you like some?"

"Yes. Or maybe something stronger?" Ruby suggested as she headed in the direction Regina had directed her. 

\---

The kitchen wasn't lacking for options that were stronger than coffee but Regina thought it best they stick only to caffeine. They needed their wits about them and she was already walking a fine line thanks to the heavy dose of magic she had been using. After making them each a cup, she walked out of the kitchen with mugs in hand. Ruby was standing in the foyer dressed in clothes that were actually a decent fit. "Its just coffee," Regina said handing over a cup. 

"No fun, but appreciated. So, I got your note. What do you want?" Ruby asked without any anger or sarcasm in her tone. She then took a sip from the mug. 

Regina moved to the living room and gestured to the sofa. Ruby followed behind and took a seat. 

"I need you to keep an eye on Henry."

"Snow and Charming seem to be doing a fine job of that."

"But not, Emma?"

"Don't put words in my mouth, Regina," Ruby scolded. "She's been busy working with you. Emma might be the savior but she can't be in two places at once."

"Exactly why I need you to keep an eye on things. Emma is determined to put an end to this but she's wanting to go about it by any means necessary and, in typical fashion, without considering the consequences."

"You're talking about this spell everyone was arguing about at the Diner."

"An argument you stayed neutral on."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "No point adding to that noise."

"Any thoughts on the subject?"

"Dark magic should be left alone."

Regina smiled, wide. "I figured I could count on you to understand how rash decisions would spell disaster for Storybrooke."

"So you want me to spy?"

"No, I want you to protect Henry. Now, if you were to also look out for the town by keeping me in the loop, for instance, if you were to hear anything that sounded like Emma was going to do something drastic, I would certainly be grateful."

"Why are you so worried about Henry? Do you think whoever is behind this will try and hurt him?"

"No."

"Then what?"

The truth was hard to admit. "I'm worried, is all."

"Regina, you need to level with me if you want my help."

Regina had once considered Ruby her enemy but now she needed her help. Honesty was the only tactic that was going to satisfy the wolf. "If Emma were to go near dark magic I can't be certain the outcome. With Gold gone, I'm the only one who would have a chance at controlling the situation and neither of us might be safe to be around if there was a confrontation of that magnitude."

"Not even Henry?"

"Most of all, Henry. Dark magic feeds off of emotion. Both of us love our son and that love would be Thanksgiving dinner to dark magic."

"But I'm a wolf not a wizard."

"I'm hoping this is merely a precaution. But it's one I need to know is in place just in case things take a turn."

Ruby placed the mug she was holding onto the coffee table. "I wouldn't last more than a few rounds against either of you, let alone together, especially if juiced with darkness."

"But you know this town better than anyone. You could easily hide both yourself and Henry long enough for any darkness to subside."

Ruby gave a sarcastic looking grin. "Optimistic of you to think it might subside." 

Regina nodded. "Perhaps that is true but you're the only person I can count on to handle this, Ruby. If Mulan or I tell you to run with Henry, you run. And if Mulan says to not let us near him, you run faster." 

"How will I know it's safe to return?" Ruby asked with a sudden seriousness not usually present in the waitress.

"I'm trusting Mulan will know that as well. I heard told she's a fierce warrior and has exhibited a noble heart. I'm hoping her instincts will guide her to when it's safe."

"But you would know this plan exists, I mean the dark you... if you were the one to go that way."

Regina was impressed that Ruby was strategizing possible holes in the plan. "I'm counting on Mulan being able to go more than a few rounds if such an unfortunate turn of events were to happen."

"So you worry it would be Emma?"

Regina merely nodded.

Ruby sat silently for a moment, seemingly taking in each and every word of what Regina presented. “I'm in.” 

“Thank you,” Regina said sincerely.

“I'm doing it for Henry.” 

“Whatever you’re reasoning, I'm grateful.”

Ruby nodded and finished her coffee. “My lunch break is almost over. I should head back to the Diner before I’m missed.”

“I’ll leave you to change back. The front door will be open. Thank you again, Ruby.”

Ruby smiled awkwardly as Regina left the living room so the waitress could shift back in private. 

A few moments later, Regina closed the front door to her home as the wolf crossed the threshold. Moving back to the living room, she then folded up the blanket and collected the clothing that Ruby left behind. A yawn escaped her lips.

The hope was the plan would never have to be enacted; she hoped Emma would abide by her mother's wishes. Regina worried she wouldn't. So instead a great deal of faith was being placed on a warrior and a waitress so that Henry's safety was guaranteed. 

_ _ _


	10. Chapter 10

Regina stretched in bed with her eyes still closed. Despite all the drama circling she was amazingly well rested. She had forgotten what a good night sleep felt like. Opening her eyes, she saw clearly out the bedroom window. The day was already an improvement on yesterday. She guessed from the way the sun was entering the room that it was around nine in the morning, glancing at the clock on the dresser she saw she was pretty close. Looking around her room there was no sign of Emma Swan lurking in any corners and as she climbed out of bed the aches and pains from the day before had subsided. Yes, things were looking up. 

Walking past the mirror in her bedroom she noticed the bruising was starting to change color. The purplish hue wasn't pretty but at least her head didn't hurt. The biggest positive was that the tingling, brought on by her excessive magic use the day before, had disappeared. By the time she had gone to bed Regina had been pretty wired but after a good night's sleep, she was feeling back in control. The side effect was a night filled with very vivid dreams, that now in the light of day, she couldn't recall. 

As positive as the day was starting she knew that since she wasn't feeling dosed by magic she would have to go and help the town. The pile of snow in the front yard was close to four feet high. Although her street was clear, thanks to the walk home from the hospital the day before, without magic the rest of Storybrooke would be trapped. The previous storm had made the removal an easy task for the residents of Storybrooke; the second storm needed a magical assist that she couldn't manage alone. With Gold still unaccounted for, and not wanting to magically overdue it, Emma would have to help but first a hot shower and enjoying whatever it was that she could smell Mulan cooking downstairs. 

\---

A delicious breakfast with Mulan continued the day on a high note. Her houseguest wasn't exactly a big talker but this morning she had been more quiet than usual. Regina could see the heartbreak written all over the warrior's face but didn't push. She did, however, offer a not so veiled show of support that Mulan acknowledged with a soft smile. 

Following breakfast Regina did the dishes while Mulan retreated to her room to get dressed for the day. Instead of joining Emma and Regina on their magic cleanup, Mulan would be going to the diner with Henry. Having been let in on the backup plan, Mulan had suggested Henry get to know her so there was trust built between them and if Ruby had to run with the boy she could join for added protection. It had been a good suggestion and so plans were made. It would also serve a second purpose since he would be without much supervision with Emma and Regina acting as magical snowplows and his grandparents organizing other efforts in the town. Henry would be distracted from worrying about the adults with Mulan at his side, keeping him from getting into trouble. After all, he did have Emma Swan's DNA. 

With the kitchen picked up Regina then headed to the basement to retrieve her winter outerwear and bundled up. She and Mulan then made their way on foot to the diner via the route she had walked the night she and Mulan had met. Along the way, Regina used magic to away the accumulation on the streets. The glistening white would have been a beautiful sight had it not been snow brought upon by unpredictable magic. 

As they approached the diner, Emma emerged with two cups of what Regina imagined was coffee. "Morning, Mulan."

"Good morning, Emma."

"Thanks for hanging with Henry today."

"It's my pleasure. He's a smart young man."

Regina was struck by Mulan’s observation. Indeed, her son was no longer a boy. Where had the time gone?

"Good luck," Mulan offered and then the darn bell at Granny's rang as she went inside. Emma continued her path to the sidewalk. "It seems about two miles from here to the hospital and then on to Mifflin are all cleared. Does the town have you to thank?"

"It was efficient yesterday since I needed to walk that route."

"Of course it was. Couldn't have you simply do something nice." Emma said handing over one of the paper cups. "Where should we head to first?"

"First, we should go somewhere to make sure you can handle this spell. I would rather not see the whole town burn to the ground from your efforts."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm a quick study."

"Well, that will make this a fast detour."

\---

The journey began with Regina making them a path to the school, explaining the entire way what she was doing. Emma stayed quiet and listened intently. It was a glorious change of pace. 

Upon arriving they went out to the sport's field, which was piled high from both days worth of snowfall. The drift was as tall as the two women, which made the task daunting. Taking a look around Regina was satisfied by her choice of practice locations. Without anything but snow and a couple football uprights in their field of sight, there was little for Emma to set fire to. It was ironic that the school was going to serve as a different sort of learning ground. 

"Concentrate on your need for fire. Feel it bubbling within but keep it isolated in your hand. It's important to take it slow and steady. We aren't fighting off a horde merely using the heat to melt things," Regina explained.

Slowly the smallest of flames began to form in Emma's open hand and the blonde's eyes widened at her accomplishment. The fire began to fizzle but Emma caught on to how the distraction had diminished it and quickly concentrated which recreated the flame. 

"Good. Now the hard part. You need to visualize where you are sending it and then you have to send it to that very place. Almost immediately you have to send a second one that is equally hot. With this amount of snow simply melting it..."

"Could flood everything," Emma said, interrupting. "I was listening during our walk over."

"Good," Regina summoned a flame of her own and carefully sent it in the direction of the massive amount of snow before them. She then followed it up with a second one that did as she had explained. "It's about control."

Emma began to raise her hand in the air, the flame rising with it. Releasing it, as Regina had done, the flame struck its target and was quickly turned into water. Emma followed it up with a second throw, which also hit the mark. "Yes!"

"Do not get cocky, Miss Swan. Again."

It took another thirty minutes and only a few misfires for the field to be clear and for Regina to be satisfied that Emma was ready. They finished their coffee and began by moving towards the closest residential area by the school.

\---

Hours went by and as dusk approached, the work was complete. There had been a few areas of town they didn’t get to but most of the accumulation was melted and the water left behind was evaporated. Emma and Regina had said very little to one another throughout the process. The blonde had tried to make conversation for which Regina scolded her, pointing out that it was a distraction. The reasoning had been an excuse. 

Regina was far too gifted at magic to have small talk negatively affect her. By that point, Emma had things down and it wasn't a real concern for her either. She had gotten the hang of things by the time they left the school. The fact was with the familiar tug of magic running through Regina and her buried feelings surrounding recent events, Regina didn't trust herself to not slip if the conversation took a turn she didn't much like. 

It wasn't until they were walking back to the diner, having finished clearing what they could, that Emma spoke up. "So what's the plan?"

"We're done for the day. No plan."

"There has to be something more we can do."

"I plan on saying goodnight to Henry and then going home for a hot shower and a nice meal."

"Regina, we can't just wait for this woman to wander into town looking to make friends. What if something really spooks her?"

"Then we will be back melting more snow."

Emma turned to her. "Regina, there has to be something. Maybe Mulan is right, maybe we could send her to keep an eye on our new visitor."

"Not without risking her life in the process."

"Well, the entire town is at risk with our current plan. We have an obligation to protect them."

"There is only one Savior here and that's your job, not mine."

"And yet you spent the day helping even though it was putting your own recovery at risk. You can try to hide it, Regina, but I've been noticing your hands shaking for the last hour or so."

Emma was, of course, right. Magic was buzzing through Regina much worse than the day before. Clamping her hands together to steady them had been a reflex Regina had wished her body hadn't done. Emma looked down at them with sympathy and concern.

"I'm fine, Ms. Swan. Just a little residual magic due to how much we used."

"I'm not feeling anything extra," Emma stated with confusion in her voice.

"That is because magic is new to you. When you've used magic as long as I have the effect is much different."

"Whatever the reason for that," Emma said pointing to Regina's hand. "You stepped up for the town. That counts for something."

"Don't mistake looking out for my best interest as some altruistic intent."

"Pretend all you want Regina but you've changed, grown. You care about this town whether you will admit it or not."

"I care that we survive. Don't mistake that for caring about the people within our magical boundaries."

"And you call me stubborn," Emma mumbled under her breath. 

"That and a whole lot more and all of it well deserved," Regina snapped back.

"Perhaps. But whatever you think of me, and, yes, some of it is well deserved, you worked with me to help and for that, we all owe you a debt of gratitude. Imagine what they might think if you helped solve the problem for good?"

“You mistake me for someone who cares what people think of me.”

“You don’t fool me, Regina, you care as much as anyone, maybe more.”

For once Regina didn't have a snappy comeback or deflection. She merely shrugged and placed her hands in her pockets. 

Perhaps it was kindness or something else but Emma broke the moment by smiling at Regina and then continued heading up the walk and into the diner. 

\---

By the time Regina had gotten home she wasn't sure what had made her more exhausted the use of magic, the yearning to use more, or the day around Emma Swan. What she was certain of, had she been required to clear any more of the drifts the town would have had more than just snow to worry about. As Emma had noticed the pull from the magic was growing stronger. Regina said she had everything under control but she was lying. 

It took a very hot shower to calm her and by the time she was cleaned up and in comfortable clothes the shaking of her hands was nearly invisible even though the magic buzzing inside her was still quite strong. Prepared to make a nice dinner and go to bed early, Regina headed to the kitchen but was interrupted by a knock at her door. She wasn't expecting company but she made her way to the front door anyway and turned on the outside light. Opening the door, she wished she had ignored the knock. Standing on her front porch was Robin Hood. 

"I thought we should talk," the handsome bandit said as he stood uncomfortably before her. 

"I'm not sure there is anything more to say."

"Regina, we were moving towards something."

"And now that your wife has returned, your family is restored.”

"You can't possibly turn your feelings off that quickly and neither can I," Robin said reaching out to take her hand.

Regina resisted. "I can and so should you. You love her?"

"Of course. She's my wife."

"You have your answer. Take your second chance and get your happily ever after."

"I can't just turn off my feelings for you."

Regina found the buzzing inside her growing and the urge to pluck his heart from his chest started to bubble in the back of her mind. "Life isn't fair, Robin and you can't have it both ways."

"But..."

"There is nothing more to say. This is over. Go home to your wife and son."

A sad look crossed the bandit's face. He nodded and walked away and as he did Regina closed the door to the house. As the door clicked shut she felt an unexpected relief. She was free but also felt foolish for having recalled Tinkerbelle's insistence on Regina pursuing him. The fairies insistence that they were a romantic match had been decades in the past. The man walking away from her home wasn't meant for the woman she had become. Robin Hood might have had a connection to Regina before the Evil Queen but he wasn't meant for the woman changed by having been so evil hearted. 

If hearing about Emma's trip into the past proved anything it was that outcomes were fragile. A single second in time can change everything. The moment that a still innocent version of herself had decided not to walk into the pub, Regina's journey shifted and therefore so did her future. Robin Hood wasn't the happily ever after for Regina Mills of Storybrooke, Maine. 

\---

Finished with dinner and nursing a single glass of red wine Regina watched the flames dancing in the fireplace and finally felt the draw of magic subside. Everything was quiet and finally calm and then her phone rang. 

Regina swiftly reached for it on the coffee table the second she saw her caller ID. "Hello."

"Regina?" It was Ruby and even while only speaking a name she sounded concerned. 

"What's going on?"

"Something is up with Emma. She and Hook had some kind of fight here before dinner. He stormed off and so she joined Mulan and Henry. She seemed okay until Robin came by to grab a takeout order."

"What happened?"

"He laid into her. Loudly and very publicly. I didn’t hear much cause Granny made them take it outside."

"Wonderful," Regina said sarcastically. 

"It gets worse. Snow had followed them and I think tried to help calm the situation and only managed to escalate it. From what Leroy overheard as he was coming in for his nightly beer, or five, Snow made the mistake of saying she could see Robin's side. Emma didn't take it well. She stormed into the diner, had a quick chat with Henry and stormed out through the B&B. We thought she had gone home to cool off but Snow called Charming and she didn't go there."

Regina tried not to allow her mind to worry but feared the worst. "Maybe she just went to get a beer somewhere else?"

"I thought so but Henry told Mulan he's worried. Based on what she said to him he fears she went to your crypt."

Regina sat forward on the sofa, putting her glass down. "What did she say to him? Exactly."

"She had to find a way to fix things and he shouldn't worry. She would be fine."

Regina stood from the sofa and started for her office. "Mulan is still there with you?"

"Yes. Henry is teaching her backgammon."

"Grab her and Henry. Drop her at my crypt and take Henry somewhere safe, just in case."

"He might be wrong."

"Or he might be right. We can't risk it. I will meet Mulan there."

Hanging up the phone, anger, frustration, and yes, even fear came over the once Evil Queen. Her feelings a jumble, Regina grabbed her car keys from the top of her desk and headed to the driveway. She was glad they had cleared the roads, including those heading towards the crypt. With her heart racing and her anger growing there was a great danger in using any more magic than she absolutely needed. 

Climbing into the car and turning the key in the ignition, Regina uncharacteristically slammed the steering wheel with her hand. “Damn it, Emma.” 

\--


	11. Chapter 11

Whipping around the final corner, Regina nearly lost control of the car as it fishtailed ninety degrees before sliding to a stop. Well, her brakes worked. Regina had hoped not to see Emma's yellow bug parked at the closest place one could drive in order to reach the crypt. Unfortunately, there it was, parked on the side of a magically plowed road with no sign of the blonde anywhere. Where the road met the woods a path had also been cleared. Henry had been right about his other mother's destination. The upside, if there could be an upside, was that Emma had driven instead of using magic. She couldn't have been there long. Maybe it wasn’t too late to stop whatever the savior had planned, of which Regina had a pretty good idea.

Making her way towards the crypt wasn't an easy task. Regina had been in such a hurry not only was she not wearing warm clothes but she had put on a pair of pumps as she raced from the house. Wobbling her way down the path that Emma had created, Regina was surrounded by walls of snow at least one story high. It was like a never-ending hallway of winter. Although the ground itself was melted, going quickly over the terrain in heels was still next to impossible thanks to uneven ground and the usual rocks and branches scattered on the floor of the woods. By the time she reached where the woods gave way to a field, Regina wasn't just angry she was starting to get cold. 

As she began to see the crypt in the distance a noise behind made Regina spin around. She had hoped it would turn out to be Emma but instead saw Mulan bolting towards her. Dressed in jeans and a warm jacket with her blade on her hip, Regina was grateful for the over-prepared warrior and her perfect timing. 

Mulan was quickly at Regina's side. "Henry is with Ruby. He said that was Emma's car back there?"

"It is. The crypt is just up ahead. Occupy her with conversation. I'm right behind you."

Mulan nodded and sprinted toward the crypt as Regina's adrenaline kicked in. Going as fast as her heels could safely take her across the grassy field and its tall walls of snow, she hoped they wouldn’t be too late. 

Reaching the entrance to the crypt, she heard the distinctive sound of metal hitting the floor and knew what it signaled. Emma had figured out where the book was locked away and managed to get into the box. Picking up her pace, she came down the stairs and around the corner to find Mulan standing nearby with worry etched on her face. Glancing where Mulan was looking, Regina saw Emma, placing a heavy, dark brown book onto the granite table at the center of the crypt, and opening it. 

Wow," Emma said, staring at an open page. 

"Emma, close the book and step away," Regina said softly, as to not startle her. 

"It's so warm, comforting. It's no wonder you had a tough time fighting it."

Mulan's hand slid to the sword at her hip. "Maybe, you should listen to Regina." 

Emma didn't even acknowledge what was said and instead concentrated on the book as she turned the pages, and leaned in more closely. "What was I looking for?"

There wasn't time for a soft approach as the book and it’s magic were beginning to take hold. "Give it back, Emma," Regina more firmly instructed.

The tone caused Emma's head to snap in Regina's direction as she pulled the book off the table and tight to her body. Her arms began to shake. It was as if she were a child clutching her favorite toy at bedtime. "I don't think so." The blonde's eyes, even at such a distance, appeared darker than normal. 

Mulan started to draw her blade and Regina placed a quick hand down to halt her. The pair made eye contact as Regina raised her right arm and, without looking in Emma's direction, she magically tossed the blonde against one of the walls of the crypt and held her there. A few small bottles of liquid crashed to the ground and broke. The book fell from Emma's hands to the floor.

"Mulan, grab the book. Shut it in the box." Regina instructed as she watched Emma attempt to fight against the magical grip. 

The warrior did as she was told, quickly but cautiously, as if she was carrying someone who desperately needed medical attention. Reaching the old, sturdy, lockbox, she then placed the book inside and closed the lid. 

"Now the lock."

Mulan followed Regina's instruction and placed the lock back where it had been. 

With a wave of Regina's left hand, the lock went back into place with a very loud popping sound, as if a speaker had exploded. Mulan's hands shot to her ears as Regina waved her hand a second time to place a protection spell over it, something she should have put up sooner. "Now go and wait outside. Take my phone and make that call. Do not come back in here, no matter what you hear."

Mulan nodded, took Regina's phone from her, and made her exit. 

Regina magically lowered Emma to the ground but continued holding her to the wall with the spell. "What in the hell were you thinking?" Regina shouted.

"I was thinking I'm the savior and since you couldn't risk going near that thing it was my job to do it."

"You could have lost yourself."

"I'm fine," Emma yelled back, defiant, as she continued to struggle against Regina's spell.

"Your eyes are telling a different story." 

"What?"

Regina turned to a pile of things she used for making potions and pulled from the pile a mirror. "Look at yourself." Holding the mirror up as she moved towards Emma, the deep red pulsing in the blonde's eyes was obvious in the reflection. 

While holding the mirror, Regina tried to ignore the amount of magic coursing through her own body and mixing with adrenaline, anger, and disappointment. It was difficult to keep the mirror steady as her arms and hands began to shake from the effects. The use of magic throughout the day, blended with her heightened, emotional state, and being in the presence of the old book, even briefly and at a distance, had caused quite the magical high. As she stepped closer to Emma the effects grew and became intoxicating. She slammed her empty hand into the wall on the side of Emma's head to avoid doing something no one would forgive her for doing. The brick wall cracked some from the contact. "What did you see on the page," Regina questioned, a hint of the Evil Queen in her tone.

Emma continued to stare at herself in the mirror as if hypnotized. She hadn't even flinched when Regina had hit the wall. "I don't, exactly, remember."

Regina released Emma from the spell that was holding her to the wall. "Precisely why it is so dangerous! Stay the hell away from that book," Regina demanded as she took a step back, silently telling herself it was to return the mirror to where she had gotten it but knowing it was because she needed to place some distance between them.

"If it's so dangerous then why do you still have it?"

"In my care I know it's protected," Regina said while moving further away from the blonde. As she did so, she felt the darker impulses release some.

"Not so protected that I couldn't get to it," Emma challenged, her voice growing condescending, almost taunting. "Perhaps the student has passed the teacher."

"No, the student risked everything. You could have gotten people killed, could have gotten yourself killed. You were foolish."

"No one would see foolishness when I stopped whoever has been burying Storybrooke."

Something snapped and in the blink of an eye. Regina closed the gap between them, grabbing Emma's arm as she did, "We wouldn’t need a solution had you and that pirate not brought back that vase." There was a strange buzzing where her hand was touching Emma. Magic fed on emotions and she had let her's come to the surface. While glancing anywhere but into Emma's ever-changing eye color, Regina noticed Emma was experiencing a similar physical reaction as her hands began to shake at her side. 

"Enough talk of Hook!" Emma demanded in a strange blend of shout and whimper; her voice having a hint of a vulnerability of which Regina hadn't recalled hearing before. 

"You've been blinded by that leather wearing thief. Did you learn nothing from Neil?" Regina hadn't intended it to be a verbal assault and immediately knew she had overstepped. It wasn't the magic this time but the pain on Emma's face that startled Regina. 

Emma immediately went on offense as she forcibly removed Regina's hand from where it was touching. "How dare you?"

Regina couldn't seem to stop the words from spilling from her lips. "It's the truth. Neil was as much a grifter as the pirate and in the end, he will leave you just as broken."

"Stop!" Emma yelled as the mirror from the pile leaped into the air, flying across the room, crashing into the far wall and shattering. 

The blonde's eyes began to pulse and Regina took a very big step back. Regina had been shown a guided pathway into the dark arts. Emma was walking a tightrope alone and their argument had made matters worse. Whatever she had seen on the pages mixed with Regina's talk of the pirate and the grifter had stirred up more than just anger in Emma.

The sound of fast feet echoed through the crypt and Mulan was back inside. "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," Regina calmly offered as she turned in Mulan's direction trying to defuse the situation instead of fueling Emma's wrath. "Just wait outside."

Mulan nodded once, paused, and then nodded a second time. Throughout the silent conversation, the warrior kept her hand on her sword. She then moved away and exited.

Regina took a very slow, deep, breath in an attempt to lower her pulse. It was time for a change of tactic because she wasn't certain the woman in the room with her was entirely in control of her mind or her magic. "It's good that you wanted to help."

"Someone had to," Emma shouted. 

"You're right," Regina forced herself to say. "But learning too much, too quickly, can cause people to get hurt. Magic of this kind has to be very carefully taught so it can be fully understood and controlled. You would never forgive yourself if you hurt, say, Henry."

"I would NEVER hurt Henry!"

Regina took a very slow step forward. "I know, which is why you're lucky I came when I did."

"That's your MO, not mine,” Emma added, pointedly. 

Regina had to let the verbal jab roll off of her. She reminded herself to breathe and took another slow step. "Emma, this is the book talking. You need to relax."

"You relax!" Emma shouted and then raised her hands, which instantly flung Regina six feet across the room and against the granite table at the center of it.

The impact sent a shockwave of pain through Regina's lower back. It was so sharp tears started to form in her eyes. "Mulan!" 

The warrior arrived in an instant, with sword drawn. 

"I hope we will be back soon. Go with them. Protect them." Regina then lunged across the room at Emma and tightly took hold of one of her wrists. With a flourish of her other hand, a plume of smoke appeared and transported them away. 

\-------------

The moment they touched down, Regina was flung back across the room. As her body connected with the wall of a very quaint cabin, Regina felt the wind knock out of her and she went to the floor. Looking up just in time to she see the blonde's rage drawing her quickly to where Regina lay crumpled on the ground. 

Emma reached down and grabbed Regina, pulling her to her feet, and used both hands to slam her forcefully against the wall. It was as if Regina weighed nothing. "Don't underestimate me. You will lose," the blonde shrieked. 

Being held strongly, and closely, Regina could feel the blonde's breath on her cheek. "Emma, you need to calm yourself."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

The dark magic within Regina was starting a war inside her. The darkest of impulses wanted to retaliate in a very violent fashion. It was as if Regina was fighting off two foes instead of just one. With Emma within an inch of her, Regina's hands were shaking and crackles of magic were dancing in her palms. Every nerve in her body was alive and on fire. She needed to calm down but she could not. Her mind and her body were severing in a dangerous way. Closing her eyes, Regina thought of Henry in an attempt to ease the unrest but it didn't work and her right hand moved sharply towards Emma's chest. 

The moment Regina's hand made contact with the beating heart she froze. She had sudden, heightened awareness of what she was doing. It was like being slapped hard across the face but as the familiar sensation of having her hand around a living, beating heart returned, she found that instead of a desire to pull it out, or crush it, or even retreat, the warmth of just holding it grew intoxicating. Her hand and arm seemed to be filled with a flow of bright, white energy that was mixed with something else, something dangerous. Emma was also frozen in place, the fight in her was gone. As Regina took another breathe the energy flowing between them began to move through the rest of her in a way that could be only described as erotic. 

As Regina held the blonde's heart inside of her chest, Emma's eyes began to flicker from crimson to her normal blue/green. Whatever was happening, it seemed to be helping to ease the power the darker magic had over Emma but there was only one way to be certain. So Regina quickly but carefully tugged Emma's heart from her chest. The blonde's eyes went wide and she let out a small gasp, which jolted Regina back to the reality of the situation. 

The heart sat in Regina's shaking hand, pulsing and swirling with more life than Regina had ever held. Fear instantly turned into a strange, unexplainable, desire to protect.

Emma staggered back. "How did you...?"

"I...," Regina didn't finish the sentence she just held the bright red heart in her hand. It had a strong beat with the tiniest of black spots hiding just below the surface near Regina's thumb and her ring finger. 

The heart pulsed, as did the black spots, both the darkness and the light were taunting Regina to make her next move. Her left hand moved gently to cup it. Unexplainable warmth then filled Regina's entire body but just as she grew overwhelmed by the sensation a jolt of magic, like she had never felt, shot through her. Regina quickly removed her left hand, which was now burned. Glancing at the heart, it was missing one of the two black spots she had previously seen on it. She couldn't be certain it was enough to remove the darkness she felt coming off of Emma but Regina couldn't try again, not with the injury she had already sustained. 

Taking Emma by the shoulder she shoved the heart back where it belonged but instead of removing her hand Regina found she couldn't bring herself to release it and it's intoxicating effect on her. It wasn't until she felt Emma's hand on her shoulder and saw a lone tear fall down the blonde's left cheek that Regina found the strength to separate them. Releasing the heart, Regina pulled away, her back against the wall again. Had this been a game of chicken, Regina would have lost. 

Staring at Regina, Emma stood completely still. Her eyes seemed to be back to normal. "I'm sorry," Emma stammered. 

It was impossible for Regina to be sure her actions worked because she couldn't look at Emma for very long. Guilt, or curiosity, or something far more dangerous, like honesty, was forbidding her from doing so. Regina didn't respond. She was not in any condition to have a conversation. Instead, after silently conjuring a soothing sleep spell, she touched Emma's shoulder. It was hardly anywhere close to what she had cursed Snow White with but it did the trick. The blonde's eyes fluttered and then she collapsed into Regina's arms. 

Shifting her weight, Regina was able to bring Emma the short distance to lay her carefully on the sofa. Her body buzzing with magic, Regina then cast a protection spell that went a safe distance around the cabin. It not only would keep others away it would keep the pair of them inside until Regina was certain Emma was cured of whatever in the book had possessed her.

Emma was relaxed and asleep but Regina's body was overcome with magic. She needed to remove the excess and so she decided to use it to fill the kitchen with essentials and clean up around the cabin. It was a waste of such power but something that needed to be done to help ease the feeling of being out of control. After twenty minutes of magical busy work, the excess that had been coursing through Regina had subsided to a comfortable degree. 

Satisfied she was feeling better, Regina sat and watched the small rise and fall of Emma's chest as she slept. Emma had been so irresponsible and yet Regina found that all the anger she had been holding onto was completely gone. From the moment she took hold of Emma’s heart something had changed. Regina knew exactly what it was but instead of daring herself to process everything Regina focused on the mission at hand. How were they going to stop the new arrival from ever again burying Storybrooke in the snow?

At some point, the sound of frogs and crickets had filled the night air. Time hadn't exactly been lost but the day had turned to night and Regina wasn't any closer to a solution. Where the blonde was calm and relaxed, Regina was wired and exhausted and her body ached from where it had been injured. It was a strange feeling that she hadn't experienced in many, many years. Fighting off a yawn, Regina leaned her head back against the chair. She knew she had no choice but to close her eyes. The solution to their problems would have to wait until tomorrow.


	12. Chapter 12

It might have been the chill in the air or the crimp in her neck from how she fell asleep in the chair but Regina Mills opened her eyes despite still feeling exhausted. Without a watch, or her phone, she couldn't be certain the time but since it was still pitch black outside she knew it was still night. Taking in her surroundings she could see Emma was still sound asleep on the sofa. Thanks to the spell Regina had used, the blonde was likely to be asleep for a while, and when she woke, Regina had to hope all would be back to normal.

Using her hands to help rise from the chair, Regina immediately felt a sharp pain coming from the hand she had burned while using magic on Emma’s heart. Turning it over, Regina saw a deep red mark in the center of her palm where the magic had fought back against the extraction. The internal pain associated with the burn was down to a dull ache so she assumed it was nothing until she made physical contact, which hurt a lot. Even her fingers delicately running over the crimson skin felt like fire. 

Moving to the bathroom, Regina opened the medicine cabinet and was happy to find a myriad of items to help bandage the injury, if only as a reminder to not use the hand the way she would normally. Regina supposed she could have used magic to heel it but, since she finally felt the magic that had been coursing through her subsiding, she opted to stick with more traditional means unless it proved absolutely necessary. Cold turkey was a better plan. 

Noticing a bottle of aspirin, Regina opened it and took three, chasing them with water from the faucet. If she was going to go the non-magical route the pills seemed an adequate a way to self-medicate. With the bandage secure and modern medicine hopefully doing its thing, Regina made her way back into the main part of the cabin but not without stopping to appreciate a photo of Henry. Removing it from the wall with her good hand, she stared at the face of her son. He was around five in the photo, all bright eyes, and warm smile, his young, innocent face bringing back a mountain of memories of simpler times. How far they had come. 

Feeling her emotions too close to the surface, Regina put the photo back and continued into the main room of the cabin. Emma was still resting. The blonde looked peaceful, a stark contrast to the darkness Regina had seen in her eyes a short while ago. Moving to the sofa, Regina placed a blanket, which was thrown over the back of it, onto Emma Swan before continuing on to the kitchen.

Regina hadn't visited the small, secluded, two-bedroom cabin in the woods since before Emma Swan had come to Storybrooke. When Henry had been younger and was still ignorant to the identity of the town's residents, the cabin was for their family vacations and one or two clandestine weekends away with Graham when her son was having sleepovers at a friend’s house. Being residents of a time-locked cursed town meant that trips away from every day were limited to 'roughing it' with a fully stocked fridge and running water only a few miles from their home. It wasn't the kind of camping her subjects would have been accustom to in the Enchanted Forest but Regina was a Queen so it was her kind. 

In those days the sounds of laughter and the smell of Regina's cooking filled the cabin with joy but nothing lasted forever. During a summer, not too long ago, while in the very kitchen she now stood, everything changed. Insightful questions about Storybrooke caused Henry to grow angry with his mother for how dismissive she was of his curiosity. His anger, and eventual silence, continued to build throughout that summer until one fall day he had run away. Regina had often wondered how different things might have been had she told Henry the truth.

Shaking off the past, the sound of the ice machine buzzing caught her attention. The benefits of a magical town included not having to pay for electricity so Regina had always left the power going to the cabin, even in her absence from it. Noticing the box of essentials she had conjured before resting, Regina began to unpack what she hadn't taken care of before her nap.

Finding a tin of tea she decided to make herself a cup. Regina grabbed the kettle, filled it and then lit the stove so she could boil some water. She put away bread and cut some of the vegetables to fill the time waiting for it. After placing the prepped food in the refrigerator, the kettle whistle turned her attention back to her drink. 

Turning off the stove and kitchen lights, Regina returned to the living room, the cup in her good hand. Standing in the entryway she took in the sight of Emma, who was still exactly how she had left her. Regina hoped the induced sleep was helping ease any remaining agitation. As for the darkness, there was no real way of knowing if what had been removed was enough to erase the influence of the book. The deeper darkness that sat many layers under the warm, intoxicating, red glow of the Savior’s heart might have been from a life well-lived before Emma learned she was from another world, or it might have been from her short time living back in the city with Henry, or it might have been the dark magic of the book still hiding inside. There was no guarantee if the effects of Emma’s stubborn decision to help, in such a misguided way, were erased. Regina could only hope they could go back to focusing on the mysterious new visitor and her use of winter magic to bury Storybrooke as the other possibility was one that was a far more sinister concern. 

There were also other less dire concerns beyond the darkness. With so much magic flowing through Emma, the effect when she woke would be more painful than any hangover or a migraine. It would resemble the effects of a mild overdose and once awake could result in her having unpredictable behavior, lack of magical self-control and therefore outbursts. Regina needed to quickly come up with a plan to remove any other kind of magic bubbling under the surface. Sapping her would only be a temporary solution but one that should keep the house intact in case Emma lashed out.

Moving to Emma Swan's side, Regina touched the blonde’s forehead with the bandaged hand. The moment the tips of Regina’s fingers made contact with the blonde's skin a rush of magic leaped like a super-powered static charge. Regina took a very deep breath and absorbed what she could. It was an intoxicating rush she had been teaching herself to no longer crave. She could feel her body begin to grow warm and her mouth went dry, her eyelids and body heavy. Regina convinced herself it was for the greater good while darker parts of her were merely grateful for the gift.

Regina needed a moment to let the first dose course through her system. Removing Emma's hair from her face to tuck it behind her ear, Regina's fingers avoided touching the skin on the side of the blonde's head. The longer Regina fought the urge to make more actual contact the stronger the magic fought to reach her fingers. She couldn’t be sure if it was her own magic pulling Emma’s towards her or the other way around but the magic grew bolder and eventually made contact, leaping to Regina’s fingertips like a flame licking the night air. The moment it did, power and déjà vu struck Regina, one fueling her and the other invading her mind.

After indulging in the magic rush for far longer than she should have, Regina pulled back and took a very deep breath. Her body vibrating with the amount of magic she had absorbed. She could feel her body crave it in a way she wasn’t comfortable with and concluded that would have to be enough for now. 

The blanket she had placed over Emma had fallen off of her so Regina, very careful to avoid any more physical contact, moved to place it back on the blonde’s sleeping form. As she laid the blanket on Emma's shoulders, accidental contact was made near Emma's neck, and the jolt knocked Regina back a few steps. Why did it feel so familiar?

Frustrated by the inability to recall the familiar sensation and knowing yet another touch to try and jog her memory was dangerous at this point, Regina turned away from the sleeping savior, picked up her tea from the coaster, and took a seat in the chair she had been sleeping in. The moment Regina started to feel her body return to normal, Emma began to shake her head like she was having a fit in her sleep. Regina stood as Emma bolted straight up. 

“No!”

"You're safe,” Regina said, sympathetically, as she reached Emma’s side.

"Where am I?" Emma whispered, her breathing fast and her left hand clenching the side of the sofa like it was a life preserver. 

The change was either progress or a trick. Regina couldn't risk being wrong so she kept her magic at the ready. "I brought you somewhere safe. Where we could be certain no one would get hurt."

One of Emma's hands moved to her head as a wave of what appeared to be nausea crossed over the blonde's face. “What happened? I feel like I drank a case of whiskey." 

Before Regina could answer, fear crossed Emma's eyes and her hand flew to her chest. "What the hell happened?"

"You dosed yourself on dark magic and I fixed it.”

Emma stared at Regina in a way that made the former mayor feel like there were daggers coming at her, “How?” It was a question but one that sounded like an accusation that already had an answer. "My heart."

Regina nodded and her throat went dry again. Turning around, perhaps a foolish move, she grabbed her tea and took a sip. It didn't help. Turning the cup in her hand didn't help either so she placed it back on the table. Memories of Mulan's conversations and her confidence that what she had done was the correct action kept Regina from glancing at the floor for answers. 

"How?" Emma asked as she swung around on the sofa, swaying as she placed her feet on the ground. 

The question confused Regina. "Same way I always have. Reached in and pulled."

"Cora tried when my mother and I were in the Enchanted Forest. She couldn't make it budge. How did you?"

“I don’t know. I just did.”

Emma looked conflicted somewhere between needing answers and wanting to lash out. "What did you do to it?" She asked and then tried to stand but failed.

"Restored it back to its usual state."

"Restored it?"

"Removed the darkness."

"What darkness?"

Regina was feeling her tolerance start to wane. "The book. It changed you. Had I not showed up when I did, we would have had more than blizzards to worry about." 

"You can't remove darkness. You told my mother as much when she...," Emma didn't finish the thought. 

"...When she killed my mother? Yes, I did."

“You lied to her?” Fury was written all over Emma’s face. Regina could have sworn her eye’s actually changed color as her ire grew.

“No, although I would have if what happened to her heart could have been reversed. She had killed my mother."

"Cora was pure evil."

"That's an unfair assessment when you consider how I've changed." Even after everything Cora had done, Regina still couldn’t stop defending her mother.

"You weren't pure evil."

"You never had the pleasure of knowing the other me,” Regina said as she sat back down in the chair, forcing herself not to make matters worse.

"I actually," Emma said but changed course. "The actions of your mother sent you down the wrong path."

"The words you are looking for are, an evil path."

"Well, not anymore." 

Knowing the power that had been coursing through her a few minutes before and its effect, Regina wasn't sure she believed the assessment.

Emma tried again to stand but her face went white as a ghost and her hand shot back to the side of her head. "I still don't understand how you could remove my darkness and not my mother's."

Regina leaned forward. "There is a very short window for the removal. By the time Snow came to me the damage had permanently grabbed hold. I saw it with my own two eyes. A deeply planted seed of darkness.”

“How?”

“Your mother begged me to kill her. Instead, I plucked her heart from her chest, showed her the consequences of her action, and then I put it right back where it belonged.”

The pain in Emma’s eyes this time wasn’t from the effects of the magic but from Regina’s confession.

“See, still quite cruel.” Regina offered as she leaned back in the chair, unsure as to why she had confessed what had been a secret, that as far as she knew, only she and Snow shared.

"And yet after how much you blame me for Marion’s return you could have crushed my heart to dust and didn’t.” 

Emma Swan always had to be right about everything.

“Just stop.”

“So what about me? Has the darkness from that book taken hold?"

"I can't be certain. When I returned your heart to your chest there was still a patch remaining."

"Left as some kind of punishment, some kind of reminder of what happened, something you can always hold over me?" 

"No," Regina removed the tape from the bandage and unwrapped her hand. She then turned her hand to show Emma. "This happened as I was trying to remove the rest of it. There was no way to continue." The flesh was now even redder and starting to blister, likely made worse by taking on some of Emma’s extra magic. The pain from exposing her hand to the air, Regina knew, was registering on her face. 

Emma, still seated on the sofa, reached over and carefully took the hand in hers. "I'm sorry.” 

“You should be.” 

“And I am." 

Heat began to radiate from where their hands touched and Regina felt Emma, somehow, healing the damage. 

With her hand mended the argument seemed not worth the effort so Regina retreated. Carefully taking her hand back, she turned and took another sip of tea as Emma's hand began to unconsciously rub her chest where her heart had been removed and returned. 

"You should get some more rest." Regina finally said, breaking the silence. "Bedrooms are down that hallway.”

Emma finally, slowly, managed to stand.

“Can you walk?”

Without saying a word, her body shaky, Emma took a couple steps.

There was no way she could make it without help so Regina stood and moved to Emma's side. "Hold on. Having you pass out before you get there will only serve as a giant inconvenience."

One arm wrapped around Emma's waist and the other holding on to her sleeved arm, Regina moved them in the direction of her bedroom. When they reached the room, Regina moved Emma to the bed, helped her lower herself onto it, and then grabbed the quilt from the foot of the bed, carefully placing it across Emma. Satisfied Emma was comfortable, Regina went to leave but was stopped as Emma reached out and grabbed Regina's uninjured hand. Where before the contact they had shared had been a rush, this time it was an intoxicating tingle where skin touched skin. 

"So I don't forget to say it tomorrow, thank you, Regina."

Regina couldn’t stop the tiniest of smiles from forming. "Get some rest. If you need anything I’ll be across the hall in Henry’s room."

Shutting the door to her bedroom, Regina was alone and protected, for now, from the magic of Emma Swan. Fighting off a yawn, she moved to Henry’s room. Leaving that door open, she crawled into her son’s much shorter bed. Drawing the sheets up to her chin and pulling her legs to her chest she again smiled despite herself. In a world of fairytales, was this some twisted nod to Goldilocks and the three bears because she certainly had an intrusive, disobedient, intoxicating blonde sleeping in her bed. The final word had jumped into Regina’s mind and wouldn’t jump back out. Exhaling, her heart began to slam again in her chest but this time it wasn’t magic causing the sensation.


	13. Chapter 13

For the second day in a row, Regina awoke curled up in a single bed. Her right side ached from having to place weight on her arm instead of the two perfect pillows from her bed at home or in the one Emma Swan was now passed out in. Being a young boy the last time Henry had slept in this bed, he didn’t much care about the mattress comfort or the kind of pillows. He only cared that he had Star Wars sheets.

As she turned onto her back, rubbing the shoulder where the pain was localized, a chill ran through. Despite the blankets piled on, Regina was cold. Glancing out the window confirmed why the stack wasn’t enough. Winter was still in Storybrooke.

Not really a morning person, Regina turned again knowing that resting her weight on her aching shoulder would hurt but be easier to endure than the sunlight streaming in from outside. As she moved, her arm overshot the small single bed. Slamming her previously injured palm onto the nightstand, Regina stifled a cry. The contact sent a shock wave of pain through her. There was no way she was going back to sleep after that. Sitting up, she unsuccessfully fought off a yawn.

Turning back to the improper winter she glanced out the large picture window and took it all in, Regina was struck by the beauty. Had it been the right time of year this would have been the kind of morning to take her coffee onto the porch and stare at the pristine blanket of white. The sun reflecting off the snow was beautiful. It reminded her of the quieter winter months when the curse was still in place. She missed the solitude, the predictable nature of each day. They had been comforting albeit lonely times even with a wide-eyed Henry at her side. As a smile rose to her lips she grew annoyed at herself for feeling any joy or sentimentality especially considering the town’s circumstances. Regina again turned away from the window and back to reality.

Outside Henry's room, she could see her bedroom door was still closed. It was a hopeful sign Emma Swan was progressing in her recovery. As with any pain, whether one's body or one's heart, the only tried and true way to recover was time. Regina resented she wasn’t being given the time she needed to move on from the pain she felt at the abrupt ending with Robin. Although, if she was being honest with herself, staying busy was proving a good distraction from it and so many other things that were now weighing on her. If ever Storybrooke had a moment of stability she would stop to deal with emotions but for now, she had a town to save, potentially alone if Emma didn’t start improving.

After getting out of bed, Regina went to her limited pile of clothing. With Emma in Regina’s room, there wasn’t much available to her except some jackets in the hall closet so during the previous day, while the blonde slept, Regina had used magic to drum up a turtleneck sweater and jeans. It had been a foolish decision that made her craving for magic worse. She needed to limit herself until she had time to detox from the battle with Emma. This meant that later in the day she ventured into her bedroom to retrieve more of her wardrobe from where Emma slept. The blonde didn’t stir at the intrusion, which at first alarmed Regina until she noticed the gentle rise and fall of the blonde’s chest. She was breathing.

Along with some comfortable clothing for herself, Regina also removed some things for Emma. When the blonde returned to the land of the living she would need to get out of the clothes she had already spent more than two full days wearing. A pile of bulky sweaters, large T-shirt’s, and sweats were placed in a chair by the door. They were from Regina’s stash of vacation clothes. Despite the image that she showed the townspeople of Storybrooke, Regina loved comfort but only when she was on her own or alone with Henry. The power suits and heels were an armor, but in places like the cabin, she could relax in soft, cozy fabrics.

The clothes weren’t the only things Regina left out. A glass of water and some dry toast were placed on the nightstand for when the inevitable hunger kicked in. She had also left a bottle of aspirin, which wouldn’t make a dent in the blonde’s pain but Regina wanted to gloat some about Emma’s self-inflicted circumstance and the medication would drive that point home.

More important than taunting her was the need for Emma to be back to her old self, as annoying as that might be. The mysterious new visitor to Storybrooke had to be dealt with before she killed someone. They needed to get things taken care of but not until Regina could be certain Emma was cleared of any dark magic. A compromised Emma Swan would be far more dangerous than an eternal winter. She could destroy everything and everyone without much effort. Regina had to find a way to be sure Emma was back to her old self.

—-

Freshly showered, Regina used a towel to remove the steam from the bathroom mirror. Catching a glimpse of herself she could see the last few days had taken a toll, not as much as Emma, but still. She was off balance from the amount of magic she had used and exhausted from the less than perfect sleep not to mention her concern for Henry and her oddly protective feelings about the people of Storybrooke. It was strange to care for the well-being of people who she had cursed so many decades before and who, even after she had worked to redeem herself, still held grudges or downright hated her.

Needing a sense of normalcy, even if it was false, she ran a brush through her wet hair, cleaned her teeth with one of her old toothbrushes, and then dressed in the comfortable clothes she had taken in with her. A pair of soft, baggy sleep pants and a black tank top hung on her body before she added a Storybrooke High School sweatshirt. Neatly folding the towel over the rack, Regina then took one last glance at herself in the mirror before re-bandaging her injured hand as a reminder not to use it as she would normally. Once it was secured she made her way to the kitchen.

\---

She was on her second cup of coffee and starting to collect what she needed from the fridge to make an omelet when Regina heard the shower turn on in the master bath. She hoped it might be a sign that Emma was feeling better. There was too much to deal with to be spending any longer nursing the stubborn Charming daughter back to health.

It was around the time Regina had finished placing the plated omelet and a slice of toast with jam onto the small round kitchen table that Emma made an appearance. Hearing her, Regina, without looking over, pointed to the food. "Eat something. It will help."

"Starving."

The one-word response was surprising coming from the usually chatty blonde which meant she was well enough to leave her room but likely still nursing the magical overdose. “You should be. One can not live on dry toast alone."

Regina put more of the egg and vegetable mixture she had made into the already warm pan and started to stir until it began to solidify. Grabbing an empty coffee mug, she poured a cup and placed it on the table. She followed it up with a very tall glass of water. As she placed the glass down, she got her first glance at Emma. 

The magic had done a number on her. She was still white as a sheet. Her eyes deep and heavy, and instead of her usual confident posture, there was a hunch to Emma’s shoulders that indicated she was far from one hundred percent. She was wearing a red flannel shirt that Regina knew she hadn't left on the chair for Emma to wear. It was too big, by a lot, and was hanging on her like a nightshirt. It lived in the back of the closet where Regina had hung it the last time she had brought Graham to the cabin while Henry was away at a friend’s house for the weekend. As angry as she was about Emma’s actions related to Marian’s return the shirt’s owner would remain unshared with Emma. There was a line between one-upmanship and cruelty, the second of which Regina didn’t partake in any longer if she could help it. 

While sipping her coffee, Regina was forced to confront the damage they had both done to one another in the time since the Savior’s arrival in Storybrooke. They kept crashing into each other’s lives with varied results and neither of them innocent. She supposed she would have no choice but to forgive Emma’s actions at some point. What Emma had done had been foolish but her intention was pure of heart. What Regina had done to Graham was murder. 

Turning back to the pan, Regina flipped the omelet onto itself and pressed it with the spatula. After a short time, it was ready. Sliding it onto a plate, Regina then turned off the burner, placed the pan in the sink, and grabbed her coffee. They sat eating at the table in silence.

Regina ate slowly, trying to focus on the food and not the woman gobbling down breakfast like it was her first meal in months. She couldn't exactly blame Emma for her lack of table manners since Regina had experienced her share of magic overindulgences and knew it wasn’t pleasant.

When the plate was empty, the blonde took a long drink of coffee and then looked up. "Thank you," Emma offered.

"For the food or the magic rescue?" Regina asked after swallowing a bite of toast.

Emma glanced down at the table and then looked back up with an impressive amount of strength in her eyes. "I suppose, both."

"You're welcome," Regina replied and then the silence returned.

—-

The rest of the morning had been spent with Emma camped out on the front porch getting as much fresh air as a magic barrier allowed. Regina, wanting to avoid Emma and her recovery, spent the time considering their predicament as if it were a chess match. Each and every possible direction to go in, with the likely conclusions, dissected. The exercise had her tossing out all but a few possibilities, none of which seemed full proof and Regina preferred full proof. She also preferred it when the likely correct course of action was her idea. As the minutes turned into hours she was pretty certain it wouldn’t be her idea that had the best chance of ending the permanent winter.

Before Regina could set in motion what would be needed to enact the plan, the cabin door opened and Emma came back inside wearing the jeans she had on when she arrived, Graham’s shirt, and a large designer coat of Regina’s, pulled tightly around her, that had been in the hall closet. Her eyes were distant and she looked small without her red leather jacket and her swagger.

“Enough fresh air?” Regina asked a little more sarcastically than she should have.

Unzipping the coat, Emma removed it and tossed it on a chair before marching the rest of the way in. The caged animal energy coming off of the blonde rippled through the room. “We need to be doing something. The town needs us.”

Regina rolled her eyes at the disregard for where jackets belonged and she silently wondered if Emma knew her magic left a strong aura when she was angry or anxious. “The town needs us to be healthy enough to help. Not make matters worth.”

“I had worse hangovers in my twenties.”

“Not to doubt the intensity of your youthful rebellion but what this is doesn’t compare to a few too many beers.”

“I bounce back quick,” the blonde said changing tactics while ignoring the judgment in Regina’s tone. “As beautiful as it might look, we have a winter to stop.”

“I’m working on a plan.”

“While sitting here curled up in a blanket drinking earl grey?”

“Yes.”

“And....”

“It’s about to be set in motion.”

“So when do we leave?”

“We don’t,” Regina explained.

Emma's eyes went wide. “Excuse me?”

“We don’t. I’m sending Mulan to track our mystery Snow Queen.”

“Mulan?”

“Yes.”

“So your big idea is a plan already presented that you tossed out?”

“Yes.”

Emma shook her head. “What’s made it suddenly viable?”

“Us needing to stay out of things,” Regina said pointedly as she stood from the chair, placed the blanket from her lap neatly on the back of the sofa where it belonged, and then moved past the blonde and out the door without another word. Concentrating on the spell she needed, she waved her hands and watched as a tiny section of the protection around the property flickered. Then, next to a mighty oak tree, a hole appeared in the barrier. Through the opening, a bird flew in and landed on one of Regina’s fingers.

Closing her eyes, Regina performed the incantation while the bird perched calmly. Nodding at the animal, it nodded back and then took flight back through the hole in the protection special which closed itself after a move of Regina’s hands.

“Ummm, did you just?” Emma asked as she leaned on the porch post that was at the top of the steps to the cabin.

“Your mother isn’t the only one who can commune with nature,” Regina explained over her shoulder, as she shook her hands, the seductive tickling of strong magic prickling from her fingers into her whole body. The spell had been necessary but she would pay for it the rest of the day.

“So what was that?”

Trying not to be shaky on her feet, Regina moved carefully back to the cabin. “An invitation.”

“Invitation?”

“Of sorts. Mulan will be joining us.” Regina explained as she walked up the steps, crossed past Emma, and back into the cabin.

Emma stalked in behind her. “She does a lot of speaking with animals does she?”

“The message will be received loud and clear.”

“And in the meantime, we are just supposed to catch up on our light reading?” Emma asked as she closed the cabin door.

“The sarcasm isn’t helpful, Ms. Swan. In the meantime, I will prepare what we need to make sure Mulan remains safe on her mission.”

“Why can’t we just take care of it?”

“Because this requires subtly, something you do not possess, and our new guest to Storybrooke has already seen me. Besides someone needs to keep an eye on you for a little while longer.”

“I’m fine. Nothing hydration and one more night's sleep can’t fix.”

“Until I can be a thousand percent certain you are over the effects of that book I’m not taking any chances, not with Storybrooke and certainly not with Henry.”

“I’m fine,” Emma repeated more strongly than before. She was looking for a fight.

Regina kept her voice calm, refusing to be pushed into an argument. “Perhaps but I refuse to take any risks.”

“You are being ridiculous.”

“And even though that sounds like the Emma Swan I know, I’m still not changing my mind. So find a book to read or something else to fill your time. There might be puzzles in the closet. We aren’t going anywhere.”

The loud huff, a familiar response from the blonde, was followed by her grabbing the coat from the chair, throwing it back on and tromping outside. Emma liked to barrel into things head first as evidenced by why they were in their current predicament. 

In another time a much younger and far angrier Regina could have been able to wreak so much more havoc with such rebellious tendencies by her side. The thought unsettled Regina, because of how powerful the temptation. The darker side of her nature, awoken by doing so much magic, grinned wickedly at the possibility of a teenage Emma defying her parent’s rules and embarking on a new life of mischief and mayhem under the Evil Queen’s tutelage. Regina wondered what kind of gratification she would have gotten by perverting a magic born of true love, the kind of fear they would have evoked and what kind of power she might have achieved had Emma been her student as she had been Rumple’s. Magic sparks danced on Regina’s fingers at the thought. Glancing at her palms, she was mesmerized by the heat, the fire, as it rose not only in front of her but also within her. 

A fleeting memory of Henry jolted Regina back and she closed her hands into fists causing the magical manifestation of her daydream to disappear. Had Emma stayed with her parents, there wouldn’t have been Henry. Regina had sacrificed her father out of vengeance and was disgusted with herself for wondering about something that would have ripped her son from her life. Picking up her mug she took a long drink of the lukewarm tea, pushed her thoughts aside, and set about to put in place what was needed for the next phase of her plan to save the town.

—-

The chimes on the colonial grandfather clock had already rung a couple times before Regina opened her eyes. Soon after dinner, she intended to rest for only a short bit but glancing up at the elegant oak clock she saw it was midnight. Except for one light near the fireplace, the room was dark. Her teacup was no longer on the side table. The book she had been reading was no longer in her lap but open and turned over on the coffee table. Swan must have come through and cleaned up.

Lifting the book, Regina turned back to the start of the chapter she had been reading because she couldn’t exactly remember the pages she had absorbed before she had fallen asleep. Even now, as the words went from the page to her mind, she couldn’t comprehend very much. Her thoughts wouldn’t stop wandering away. Calling her distracted was an understatement as evidenced by how she jumped in her seat from the sound of a drawer being rifled through in the kitchen.

“What are you looking for?” Regina yelled over her shoulder.

“There isn’t any beer. I can only find wine but no corkscrew.”

“It’s in there somewhere.”

“No, it’s not.”

“So magic it open.”

“And risk being accused of evil,” the blonde barked back, dripping in sarcastic frustration.

“Christ sake, there is bourbon in the pantry behind the olive oil.”

“Wouldn’t want to steal any of the Queen’s stash.”

“Drink the bourbon.” Regina thought she could hear Emma shaking her head but knew it was just her mind filling in the blanks of the blonde’s typical reaction to things. Two cupboards were opened and closed. Before a third one could be checked Regina interjected again. “The glasses you want are in the cupboard to the left of the stove.”

“Who puts their glasses next to the stove?”

“I do. Just pour yourself a glass and stop passing judgment on how I organize my kitchen,” Regina shouted, making sure to punctuate her ownership.

Giving up on the book, she closed it and returned it to the bookshelf next to the fireplace. After stoking the logs to help circulate more air, Regina turned around to see Emma entering the room with two glasses between her fingers and the bottle of bourbon in her hand.

“I’m not big on drinking alone,” Emma said while holding out the glassware. “Join me.”

Regina eyed her suspiciously.

“We don’t even have to speak. Just drink. Pretend we’re strangers in a bar.”

Regina rolled her eyes while moving to take one of the glasses with one hand and the bottle in the other. She then brought everything over to the sofa. “Fine.”

Placing the glass down, Regina opened the bottle and poured herself some. Emma was soon at her side with her glass out.

Regina looked up at the blonde taking in her exhausted state, making an extra effort not to stare. “Alcohol isn’t going to ease that hangover.”

“I’ll manage.”

Regina poured a double into Emma’s glass. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The blonde brought the glass to her lips, savoring the taste before sitting in the armchair. 

Aware she was playing with fire, Regina turned her single pour also into a double. As she put the lid back on the bottle her thoughts started to swirl wildly in the silence.

There was a game of chicken going on which Emma lost. Her words were almost a whisper. “Not sure how many more times I need to say this but I really am sorry, Regina.”

“Noted.”

Emma, her eyes soft, leaned forward in the chair that Regina had been sleeping in. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Be so cold about it.”

Regina wasn't awake enough or drunk enough to want to go down this road especially while trapped with Emma Swan in a small cabin in the woods. “Your apology, for the myriad of things you’ve done as of late, is noted, Ms. Swan. Understood. Accepted. Or whatever word you need me to use so we can move on and focus on what we are facing."

“I was trying to help.”

Her never-faltering need to save was so frustratingly optimistic and completely unrealistic. 

“Well, you didn’t. Had you listened to me instead of going against my strict instructions we wouldn’t be in this situation. Sometimes the best way to help is to do nothing.” Regina brought the glass to her lips and took a long drink from it, the burn from the liquid momentarily soothing her tired brain.

“That’s not the way I’m wired.”

“I’ve noticed. Next time distract yourself with a hobby. Or hang out with our son instead of barreling in head first without any care about consequences. Toying with an ancient collection of dark magic, that you know nothing about, doesn’t help.”

"Noted," Emma replied sarcastically. "Accepted. Whatever word you need to hear me say so we can move on from this.”

Regina’s patience was wearing thin. "We have a town to save. Can't this juvenile argument wait?"

"We have nothing else to be doing. So no, it can't." Emma replied while bringing her drink to her lips.

Regina resigned herself to the fact this wasn't going to be tabled for another day. Swan wanted to put the cards on the table and so Regina would do it. "Okay, fine, I find it ironic you are the Savior when I'm the one that has been picking up after your irresponsible errors in judgment and is suffering the consequences of most, if not all, of those actions."

"Says someone who, by their own admission, has done unforgivable things."

Regina wished she had made her double a triple and nearly added more to her glass. "Things I will continue to repent for until the day I die."

"So none of us are perfect?"

"No, Emma, none of us are perfect and your actions, as well as mine, are permanently baked into who we now are.”

The fight fell from the blonde’s eyes and she nodded. "Both damaged goods."

"Some more so than others," Regina added with a note of melancholy before taking another sip. 

"I lived a complicated life before Henry brought me to Storybrooke."

Regina knew this, having seen the police reports and court documents but there was no comparison between the two of them. "The darkness that remained on your heart was evidence of that."

Emma seemed to be weighing whether the conversation should continue. There was something she wasn’t sharing, and the look in Emma’s eyes intensified. “So the darkness…” Emma began and then stopped. Her thought was left incomplete. 

"Yes,”

"What if that wasn't my past?”

“Then that would be a problem.”

“It would be related to the book?”

Regina didn't want to entertain the thought any more than she had two nights earlier but she knew she couldn't dismiss it either. “That would be the only explanation if not from actions in your past.” 

“My memories of what happened after you plucked out my heart are foggy.”

"Aftereffect of the removal, the soothing spell I placed on you so you could rest, and your body trying to fight off the trauma of what happened. It’s nothing unusual.”

“Can you show it to me?”

Regina raised her eyebrows.

“My heart,” Emma whispered while glancing at her feet.

Picking up the bottle Regina poured herself that third. “I best not.”

“Please, Regina. I need to see it.”

“What good would that do?”

Emma took her glass and finished off what was in it. “Please.”

The reply hadn’t been the answer to Regina’s question and yet she found herself standing from the sofa and sliding the coffee table forward. She told herself it was because the Savior was going to bother her about it until Regina did what she asked but at that moment, looking into Emma’s eyes, Regina found she couldn’t deny the request for a reason she didn’t dare analyze.


	14. Chapter 14

This was going to take a lot of care. 

While fighting back against an altered Emma, Regina had reopened her desire for uncontrolled magic, which was much different than the kind used for teleporting between locations or teaching someone how to melt snow or even protecting herself against the woman in the woods. The kind of magic she had used against Emma’s darkened skills was instinctual and frantic, and it easily opened the barely healed additive need for magic of that kind. She had held the other woman’s heart in her hand. It was intoxicating and here she was about to do it again. 

Regina hadn’t helped matters by using a small spell to send a message to Mulan. She needed time away from any magic use because the floodgates to the kind of magic the Evil Queen had thrived while using were open. Not even when fighting Zelena had Regina felt this kind of pull towards the uncontrolled. Now every bit of magic was potentially dangerous until she could silence the craving again. She didn’t much care for the conflict anymore. Regina had considered it a secret point of pride having persevered against her darker nature. Her mother would have called it weakness. Whichever it was, Regina was back to square one. 

This request from Emma involved playing with fire and she couldn’t be certain how using it again was going to affect her. She was concerned she could cause harm to Emma but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself from obliging the request. So here they were directly across from one another and less than an arm’s length away. Regina couldn’t recall ever being this close to the blonde except when they were violently confronting one another. This was an entirely new dynamic.

Emma eyes locked on Regina’s and their breathing synchronized in an astounding way. The moment Regina’s injured hand touched Emma’s shoulder the blonde trembled. 

“Are you sure?” Regina asked, as much to herself as Emma.

The Savior nodded. “I need to see.”

Taking a deep breath to prepare for what she knew would follow, Regina then plunged her hand into Emma’s chest. She managed to hold her breath even as the intimacy of the action began to exceed the previous extraction. Passing from Emma to Regina, a burst of white energy flooded up her arm; this time without the foreboding. The intensity of Emma’s eyes made Regina want to look away but she didn’t, her curiosity wanting to know what she would see. However, holding her breath proved impossible and the second Regina succumbed to the need for oxygen her whole body vibrated as the feeling from before, the energy this time amplified further, moved through her.

Emma’s eye went wider. Had she felt it also? There was a flicker of something indescribable but familiar. A lone tear fell down the other woman’s cheek and Regina couldn’t take it. Needing things to subside, for both their sakes, Regina plucked Emma’s heart from her chest. The intensity instantly dimmed. The blonde’s breath hitched and Regina removed her other hand from Emma’s shoulder, as if burned. Her feet forced her to take three steps back to put distance between them.

Holding Emma’s heart in her now shaking hand, the feeling to protect it at all cost was all that Regina found she desired in the world.

“May I,” Emma stammered. “See it?”

“Understand that it has to remain in my hands.”

Emma nodded and then took a step forward, and then another, which made Regina wish she could retreat since being this close was causing emotion to stir.

Needing to look anywhere else but the woman in front of her, Regina took in the sight of the heart in her hand. Like before, the purity of it was clouded by a small but intense blackness that was churning deep within. 

“Is that the mark?” Emma asked. The clarity of thought, while lacking her heart, was startling. Emma should have been an empty vessel like so many victims of the Evil Queen and yet somehow she wasn’t.

“It is.”

“Could you try again?”

Even with what should have been Regina having all the control, and the pain still throbbing in her hand, Emma’s words willed Regina to want to try. The power should have been Regina’s and yet it was Emma who was compelling her to act? Was it her magic, the look in her eyes, or some kind of confusing compassion Regina felt? 

“I’ll need help removing the bandage.” Regina chose her words carefully as to not make it a demand. While in possession of Emma’s heart, Regina should have been able to bend her to her will. It still seemed likely the control was there, even with the Savior showing signs of independence, but Regina didn’t want anything that was happening to be forced upon Henry’s other mother. The decisions would be hers to make.

Emma nodded. Reached over and gently took Regina’s hand. They locked eyes again and it was Regina who trembled this time. As the bandage was slowly removed, Emma’s eyes stayed on Regina instead of her task. Regina told herself she wasn’t responsible for the intensity of Emma’s behavior but hoped that subconsciously she might be. If Emma were mirroring Regina’s emotions at least there would be less to unpack.

As the bandage floated to the floor, Emma unexpectedly took the tips of her fingers and drew them softly across Regina’s palm. Magic crackled between them and Regina’s palm began to glow. Even without her heart, Emma was still the Savior, which Regina convinced herself might explain the free will the blonde was showing. Regina recognized the protection spell forming around her hand, a spell she had no idea how Emma knew. Was it instinct? Was it the book? What was happening in this quiet cabin in the woods? Before Regina could ask the question out loud, the magic started growing. It started circling around them and then the entire room began filling with it. It grew so strong that the fire burning in the fireplace began to flicker in dramatic fashion.

The moment Emma moved her hand back to her side Regina carefully brought her hand around the heart. She forced herself not to look at Emma as she tried to draw energy towards the darkness. Regina could feel the power coursing through her and despite the aura of protection the seductive properties of the magic danced inside her. She was an addict and this was a fix. Her body was alive and her mind alert. Regina could feel a resistance to her goal of healing the darkness, which began to anger her. There was a tug of war going on and neither side was winning. She loved winning. Something, maybe the addiction, wanted the war to go on for as long as possible, urging her to keep riding the waves. She also loved the waves.

A loud crack filled the air, followed by a burst of power that ripped through Regina, forcing her hand back to her side as it shook uncontrollably with residual magic dancing in her palm. The other hand, positioned between them, was still carefully holding Emma’s heart. Regina heard her name being called and looked for where the sound was coming from. Lifting her head, she saw the look of concern in Emma’s eyes. It was all she needed to realize she was going over the edge. Regina’s focus darted around the room. It was then Regina noticed the small darkness still dancing within the blonde’s heart. She had failed. 

A hand took hold of her shoulder. “Regina, …”

“What,” Regina stammered.

“The heart. Return the heart,”

It was Regina’s turn for a tear to fall from her eyes.

“You can do this.”

Emma’s confidence in Regina’s ability seemed misplaced considering the conflict going on within her own body and from a practical standpoint there was no way Regina could use her shaking hand to get the leverage she needed to place the heart back in Emma’s chest. The blonde’s grip on Regina’s shoulder grew stronger, as if she heard the silent doubt. Regina suddenly had what she needed to complete the task. Lifting the heart, Regina took one more deep breath, let the power wash over her again, rode the wave, and then thrust it back where it belonged.

Where before she couldn’t let go, this time Regina immediately put as much distance between them as possible. The back of her legs hit the chair she had been sleeping in and she somehow gracefully, considering her condition, collapsed back into it. Her heart pounding in her ears and her hand continuing to shake all Regina could do was give in.

Emma stood perfectly still until her breathing normalized. As it did her hand moved to her chest and her eyes looked to Regina. Neither of them spoke. After a moment, Emma slowly moved to the chair. Regina’s hand continued to shake and her breathing grew erratic. Emma reached down with both hands and clasped Regina’s hand between them. Magic flowed again but instead of making the awakened addiction worse things began to ease. The white light enveloped them. The intensity of the connection grew causing Regina to slam her eyes shut but the feeling of being powerless over her addiction lessened. 

“It will be okay,” Emma said though Regina would swear it wasn’t out loud but instead directly into her mind.

She had no words to provide back as exhaustion replaced the frenzied need for magic. Regina’s body began to relax and her eyes closed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The shorter length for this chapter was due to the intensity of the exchange. What comes next didn't fit well after such a major back and forth between the pair. They both needed a second to breathe and reset. 
> 
> Hope it packs a wallop for people despite the length. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with this story even when the updates are slow.


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